


Midnight Man

by SangoChan2



Category: The Hobbit (2012), The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: M/M, beware!, it's a detective story therefore a murder will occur, plus this is not a Durincest, they are not related here, yeah I'm trying tags :)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-04
Updated: 2013-05-10
Packaged: 2017-12-10 10:05:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 28,780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/784837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SangoChan2/pseuds/SangoChan2
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>'I’m lost in this darkness. I am a mere shadow of who I used to be and I need someone to find me.'  Fili moves away from his girlfriend, only to find that in his new place filled with crime, every neighbour has secrets he would like to hide. But one of them might be innocent... a boy with curly hair and honest brown eyes... </p><p>a modern day AU; a loose sequel to<br/><a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/739437/chapters/1376554">Five Days For the Detective</a></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Officer & The Baker

**Author's Note:**

> Please ignore everything I ever said about not shipping these two... :)

# Midnight Man

### Chapter 1 - The Officer & The Baker

Fili woke up feeling suprisingly well, but when he realized where he was, he buried his head into the pillow again. He could hear Dwalin making coffee in the kitchen and opened one eye to look at him. Considering how huge his boss was, he was fairly quiet and stealthy... There was a weather forecast on the radio, 'We are expecting the warmest night of the month tonight, folks, so make sure to drink a lot. Booze, not the water. Or is it the other way around? Hahahaaa!'

Oh, god... Fili turned his gaze to the pattern on the sofa where he was lying; someone somewhere must have spent hours weaving it together. Or... a machine probably made it, right? Nobody made couch upholstery by hand anymore...

He grew to love this couch over time, it was his safe haven in times like these... Whenever they got into a fight, he would go and stay at Dwalin’s apartment overnight. Given that Dwalin spent half his nights in his lover’s apartment, he hoped he wasn’t bothering the detective too much. He was rather curious about this mysterious Ori. He didn’t even know whether it was a woman or a man by the name... For all he knew, Ori could have been a young skinny Scottish boy or a chubby middle-aged woman from Botswana... and he could picture Dwalin with both.

The phone rang somewhere and Fili’s heart started to pound. What was the time? Seven? She never called this early in the morning to find out where he went... He looked around for the phone. Maybe-

'Yeah?'

Ah, Dwalin’s phone. Fili let his head drop onto the pillow again. It was all right, it was fine. He could take few more minutes without having to think about what lie she will come up with this time, what he will do, how he will tell her that this time she really crossed the line...

'I’ll be there at eight,' Dwalin hang up, his eyes falling on Fili. He coughed. 'I believe I may have expressed my opinion about your girlfriend before, Fili...'

'Yeah, you did,' Fili mumbled, sitting up on the couch and running his hands over his face.

'Once or twice...'

'Everytime I knocked on this door.'

'Ah,' Dwalin sipped his coffee, 'roughly twelve times then.'

'And you’re gonna do it again...'

'Yes, because you don’t listen. Look, Fili,' he passed to the window with his cup and opened it, lighting a cigarette, 'we all know what she’s like. She’s never going to change and by forgiving her everytime she does it, you’re just playing a part in her game... Well, that’s all I have to say about that. You’re a pretty smart kid, by now you should understand it too.' He sighed, 'But you’re going back to her anyway, so I’ll just try to think of something better for next time.'

Fili pressed his fingers to his temples, trying to push the yesterday’s headache somewhere where it wouldn’t hurt so much. He knew Dwalin was right. He knew everyone else around him was probably thinking the same thing. Everyone knew his girlfriend was cheating on him, even he knew, right from that very first guy. But he could never get past her tears, her sweet smile, her plausible lies and leave her. She had him wrapped so tightly around her finger that he couldn’t get away. So he made himself believe her stories, denying the truth, because in the end he was always the one she came home to. But yesterday’s night... Jesus, it was his friend this time... his friend...

'You know about someone having a free apartment?' he asked.

Dwalin raised his eyebrow, a smile appearing on his lips, 'You can crash on the couch here tonight and then take this one, kid.'

Fili’s head snapped up,'You’re moving to your...' Girlfriend? Boyfriend? Her? Him? '... Ori?'

'Yeah.'

Fili looked around. Well, if he was honest with himself, he was practically living here already. There was even one of his uniforms in the wardrobe and two his cups in the cupboard... He smiled at the detective, 'Ered Luin 14 sounds like a good address to me.'

...

Fili stepped into the corridor, waiting for Dwalin to find his keys before leaving for breakfast and as soon as he turned around, he got hit by a huge cardboard box.  

'Sorry, man, are you okay?'

Fili moved his lower jaw, running his fingers over it, making sure it wasn’t broken and glaring at the man who was still trying to open the door to the apartment across the hall. He wasn’t all that old, a guy his age probably, maybe younger... Tall, dark-haired. Unshaved for probably two or three days...What on earth did he have in that box? Bricks? Ensuring he was all right and the morning didn’t get any worse than it had already been, he smiled a little, 'Yeah, no worries.'

'Morning, Dwalin,' the guy grinned somewhere behind Fili’s back.

'Kili,' the detective nodded, appearing at the door, 'how’s the moving going?'

'Not bad, just two more of these boxes and I shall be done. It would be way more easier if Mr. Goblin hadn’t already crammed all his things there. Seems like he is even more anxious to get away from his wife than I am to get away from those dripping pipes. And right after I’m done with that, I’m going to the _Café_ to tell Ori what an unfaithful, adulterous and cheating bastard you are.' His gaze fell on Fili, a playful smile on his lips.

'Ori knows about him,' Dwalin said, completely unconcerned.

Kili‘s smile grew even wider, 'You two are so kinky, I can’t even comprehend... See you!' And with that he managed to open his door and vanished inside, leaving chuckling Dwalin and red Fili behind.

'Hey! It’s not- We’re not-...' Fili turned around at Dwalin, 'Can you believe this guy?'

...

Hunched in one of _Café Ori_ ’s booths, Fili was slowly sipping his coffee, trying not to stare at the vision in front of him. Ori was a guy all right. And even though he could picture Dwalin with a man before, secretly he had his money on that chubby lady and there was something strangely embarassing about this whole situation.

But he had to admit, the boy was adorable, with his pink cheeks and glasses and snow white jumper. There was something about him that made Fili want to hug him. The boy was sitting next to Dwalin, an absolute happiness written across his face. Fili only hoped that they wouldn’t kiss in front of him. Though on a second thought... He couldn’t believe it even crossed his mind, but he sort of wanted them to kiss... He sipped his coffee again. There was something wrong with him, maybe he was the one who was kinky... And all this was her fault, she had made this mess out of him. A nervous wreck who would give anything to have a shot of whiskey poured into that coffee...

He realized that Ori was asking him something. Was he all right?

'Yes, yes,' he answered, forcing a smile. Please don’t mind me, I just want to drown in self-pity because the only person I had, just went and shagged my friend...

Dwalin was staring at him intently, as if deciding whether it was a good time to tell Ori that Fili finally decided to leave his girlfriend. Fili would bet anything that the boy already knew everything about his love life from the detective. But then Dwalin decided that it would be way too much for Fili to hear her name mentioned so instead he turned to Ori and said, 'We just met Kili. He seemed to jump to a conclusion that the two of us were inolved and you should be informed immediately. I believe it might have upset Fili a bit...'

The boy’s eyes got wide and he leaned a little to Fili, 'Oh, please don’t mind him. He just keeps joking like that all the time.'

'You know him?' Fili looked up, suddenly interested.

'He works here,' Ori answered, nodding.

Excellent. The first neighbour he got to meet knew both Dwalin and Ori and knew they were together... ergo had every possible reason to think he was gay as well. Just excellent. And how did someone as nice and gentle as Ori came to work with someone who looked like he had just robbed the National Bank and then spent all the money on alcohol or drugs? Maybe that was what was in that box... Dear lord, did he really just think such a nonsense? Was he getting insane?

'Please don’t be angry with him, he is really nice and he... he didn’t have it all that easy in life,' Ori said quietly, staring into his cup, 'I’m sure you could be good friends if you gave it a chance and got to know him better.' He turned pink and looked up at Fili quickly, as if worried that maybe he was meddling into things that didn't concern him and he turned to Dwalin swiftly, 'So... where are you off to now?'

'I’m meeting Thorin, he’s leaving for a week and going south.'

'Do you think he will bring Bilbo back with him?'

'That’s the plan.'

Bilbo? That sounded like a guy from Italy, with a thin black moustache, selling mountains of olives every Friday on the piazza. Or a tall American basketball player who likes to go on solitary trips in his canoe in his free time. Or a chubby Botswana woman... Damn, didn’t anyone date people with normal names anymore?

'And then I’ll go and help Fili pack up his things before he changes his mind.'

'She’s che...' Ori stopped himself, glancing at Fili with concerned eyes.

Of course he knew everything...

*****

Fili was standing with his hands crossed on his chest, listening to the yellow police tape flapping in the light wind, staring at the building he had just moved into. This day really couldn’t get any worse. It could have been a normal late shift, but then Dwalin got a call from the chief inspector of the Homicide Squad, asking him to come down and the detective dragged Fili along, claiming he can’t leave him behind to do something stupid, like calling his ex. But he should have known, this was just his luck. He moves somewhere to have a nice new beginning and someone gets murdered in that very building...

Dwalin next to him dropped the cigarette butt and moved towards the house as doctor Oin emerged from it.

'Well?' the chief inspector from HS joined them with a cigar in his mouth, wrapped in a trench coat as if the warmest night of the month could suddenly conjure up a blizzard.

'I’d say it’s pretty simple, Gloin. The woman’s been poisoned, some six or seven hours ago, I’d say. My guess is cyanide, though I’ll tell you more as soon as I’m sure. Can we move her now?'

'Yeah, about that...' the chief inspector paused, scratching his beard and looking at Dwalin hopefully, 'Dwalin, I was wondering whether you would like to have a look at her too, for the old times' sake, you know. I rather miss those old days when we used to work together, don’t you? And when I heard you lived here... Well, unless you’re busy...'

'Not really, but the sooner your boys pack it up here, the better, I would really like to get to bed. What time is it anyway?'

'Three in the morning,' Fili answered and both detectives looked at him with tired eyes.

'Well, let’s pack it up quickly then,' Gloin clapped his hands, leading the way back into the house, 'I’m so glad you two offered to help.'

Dwalin sighed, shooting a reconciled smile at Fili.

They all climbed to the second floor, passing dozens of Gloin’s men on the way and then entered one of the apartments. The owner, the newly moved in Mr. Goblin, was collapsed in one of the armchairs, opening his mouth like a fish taken out of water, gasping for air. He was the most obese man Fili had ever seen in his life. His huge protruding eyes were set wide apart, giving him a creepy toad-like appearance.

'Did he say anything?' Dwalin asked quietly one of Gloin’s men.

'No much, sir, still in shock... And, um, some of the tenants asked if they could go outside for a smoke, sir, so I was wondering...'

'Excellent idea,' the detective smiled, 'sure they can, but keep an eye on them.' He approached the wheezing man and patted him on the shoulder, 'Do you smoke, Mr. Goblin?'

The man nodded, closing his mouth for the first time, apparently disconcerted by the unexpected question.

'Perfect, why don’t you go outside with sergeant here, have a cigarette and calm down a little?' The man nodded again and way too eagerly jumped out of his armchair. Given his body proportions he was suprisingly agile.

Once he was gone, they all turned their attention to the body of a woman lying on the sofa.

'I take it he found her...' Dwalin murmured.

'Yeah, we don’t know much. Mr... eh...' Gloin browsed through his notes, 'Bofur. Mr. Bofur called us. He and the lady from the top floor heard him screaming 'Murder' and came running to him. They found him on the floor, passed out and called us. Mr. Goblin mumbled something about getting up for a glass of water and finding her, says he doesn’t know her...'

She was certainly pretty, around thirty, tall and rather beefy, her skin completely ashen. She was lying with her hands laid over her chest, giving the impression that she was only deep in her sleep. She was dressed in black ad white skirt suit, decent but not very expensive, pearl bracelets on each hand and small pearl ear-rings, partly hidden by blonde hair. The overall effect was fairly ellegant...

Fili bent over her, 'What’s on that card?'

'What card?' Gloin turned to him, suprised.

'The one under her left hand...'

Both detectives squeezed next to him and Dwalin reached for the piece of hard paper. It was ordinary enough, with words ' _I’ve warned you, you’re next_ ' written over it.

*****

'I can’t believe this! I can’t believe this!'

Fili smiled, this was certainly a very unorthodox way of meeting his new neighbours, but given the characters of the occupants of the building he really doubted they would ever meet together like this under any other circumstances.

'I refuse to believe this! This is not happening. What have I ever done to anyone?'

They were all standing in front of the house as the ambulance with the woman’s body was leaving, every single one of them with a cigarette or a cigar, Mr. Goblin pacing between them, waving his corpulent arms in the air.

Fili supposed he would freak out just like him, had he stood up at two in the morning to get water and found a dead unknown woman in his living room.

'It’s a conspiracy!' Mr. Goblin yelled turning suddenly to Kili where he was standing next to Fili, smoking, 'It’s like they waited for me to get to your apartment to blame a murder on me!'

'Who?' Kili asked, curious. And whether he was mocking or not, Fili couldn’t tell.

'The government. Or my wife! Yes, it was her for sure. She always hated me. Said I was getting fat and perverted. Me! She was the one getting fat! I bet she found herself someone from the governement so that they could get their hands on my thingies once I’m in prison...' He started pacing again.

'He’s sort of... paranoic,' Kili whispered, standing a little closer to Fili and Fili winced. Ever since they got out of the building, Kili always seemed to be somewhere near him... He shot a look at him, the boy’s dark eyes sliding over his neighbours.

'Yeah? What can you tell me about the others?' Fili asked.

Kili looked at him, that playful smile of his back on his lips, 'It’s always straight to the business with you, isn’t it? You must be the pride of the precint, officer.'

'Captain.'

'Captain,' Kili repeated and it seemed to Fili that he somehow got even closer again, his gaze sliding to Fili’s lips and Fili could feel his cheeks heating up, unable to look away from those eyes. 'Relax, officer, I’m not gonna kiss you,' Kili giggled and straightened up, 'and I know you don’t sleep with Dwalin.' He winked at him and looked back to their neighbours.

'Well, first you got the ground floor. Mrs. Jackson, the housekeeper. She is nice enough if you flatter her, don’t insult her cooking abilities and bring her some cigarettes from time to time. She spends her life seated by the window, so she knows everything that happens at either end of the street. I bet she did it. The poor girl probably came asking for some recipes, told the old lady that her recipes sucked and she did away with her. Took her up to Mr. Goblin’s room because she doesn‘t like him and she managed to climb all those stairs with a body on her shoulder because in reality she’s a guy, a former wrestler who’s hiding here from all his fangirls.'

He looked at Fili and upon seeing his expression burst out laughing.

'I’m sorry, man, that was... a really bad joke. But I just couldn’t help it, don’t you ever smile? You’ve got to live the life, not just survive it.'

Fili glared at him, 'Well, excuse me, if I’m not in the mood for joking today but I broke up with my girlfriend because she slept with my friend, I had to move out of our apartment just to get away from her, I will have to sneak back there tomorrow when she’s at work to get the rest of my stuff because I can’t stand facing her and a murder occured in a house I’ve just moved into.' He was breathing heavily now, he wanted to scream or shout the whole damn day and now just couldn’t hold it anymore.

'I’m sorry, I’m just...'

'It’s okay,' Kili got serious for the first time, 'She had to be a real bitch if you had to stay so many nights at Dwalin’s place. If I were you, I’d be happy I got rid of her and just forgot about her.'

Fili was staring at him. They only just met today, how on earth did he know how many nights he spent there?

'Peace?' Kili asked with a small smile, offering his hand.

'Peace,' Fili said after a moment, shaking Kili’s hand. It was warm and strong and for some unknown reason he didn’t want to let go of it. He shivered, dropping the boy’s hand in an instant. What was it with him?

Kili pretended not to notice anything and instead turned to the housekeeper again, 'All right, let’s be serious. I don’t think Mrs. Jackson is a man, but she does know everything, maybe she saw something.

Then there’s Bombur and his cousin Bifur. Cooks. They work at the Rivendell Hotel & Spa uptown. Neither married, though that’s really suprising given that the hotel is full of old rich widows. Nothing too interesting about them, except neither of them can drive and they both have a phobia of public transport so they go to the hotel every day by taxi. You’d think it wouldn’t hurt them to walk once in a while...

Then on the first floor we’ve got Dwalin, or... you from tomorrow (I dare say you two didn’t do it) and me. And let me say here, I didn’t do it either. I work at _Ori’s Café_ on the corner, and some nights play sax at the Erebor Bar, if Bofur, over there, can’t make it. He lives on the second floor. He’s a writer during the day, he writes these cheesy romantic novels for middle-aged women and they are real best sellers.

And opposite him lives Mr. Goblin, I guess you’ve already met him. He used to live across the street but he’s getting divorced so he moved to my old apartement.' Kili lowered his voice, 'He doesn’t know about the pipes yet...

And then on the third floor... there’s Mr. Gazile. He moved here a couple of months ago. I don’t know anything about him except he freaks me out, don’t look into his eyes, they’re really creepy. And then there’s only Gal. I don’t know if it’s her real name or just a way of addressing her but that’s how Mrs. Jackson calls her and she’s the only one Gal ever speaks to. She’s... I don’t know. I’ve never seen her outside the building...'

Fili looked at the blonde woman standing not far from them, beneath an old oak. Just as Kili finished, she looked in their direction and smiled, almost as if she knew that they were talking about her. Well, that was pretty creepy too, Fili thought. But somehow... the feeling passed and the more he looked at her, the more he was sure she couldn’t possibly harm anyone. Plus she was really beautiful...

'All right, ladies and gentlemen,' Gloin appeared at the main door, 'we will now take your statements and I can promise you we will try to make it as quick as possible so that you could all return to your beds soon.'

Mr. Goblin rushed forward, 'You can’t expect me to go back in that apartment! God knows what else I might find!'

Bofur and the cooks laughed, grateful for a distraction from the oppressive atmosphere and they all went slowly inside, no one looking at anyone and only Fili remained outside, waiting for Kili to finish his cigarette.

'You know,' Kili said, looking at him intently, 'I might have a theory or two about why it didn’t work out with your girlfriend...'

Fili glanced at him, 'Really? And what would those be?' 

'Well, first is the obvious one. You are way too nice for the kind of women like her. She won’t be happy till she finds someone who won’t hesitate to slap her if she ever so much as kisses another guy, let alone sleeps with him. And that’s not you... The second,' he dropped his cigarette to the ground, stepping on it and getting too close to Fili for his liking, 'is that maybe a girl isn’t what you need... or want.'

And before Fili could even think about what he meant by that, Kili grabbed his shirt, pulled him to himself and kissed him.  


	2. The Housekeeper & The Cooks & The Rogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2, in which it is revealed that everybody saw, but only one heard...

# Midnight Man

### Chapter 2 - The Housekeeper & The Cooks & The Rogue

Fili kept staring into Kili’s eyes as the the other pulled away from him, his mind completely blank. What on earth did just-

A small smile appeared on Kili’s lips and Fili realized that he could still feel their touch on his own. He could feel the taste of tobacco in his mouth, light tingle on places where Kili’s beard stubble scratched his skin. He should punch him, that was the only reasonable reaction that should follow something like this... But he couldn’t. He was frozen to the spot, not really sure what to do next because those burning brown eyes were looking back at him intently, studying his face.

Suddenly Kili frowned a little, 'Hey, it was just a joke, I didn’t mean anything by it... I just thought-'

Fili's fist moved before he could finish the sentence and the boy staggered a few steps back and then fell down on the grass, hand pressed to his nose.

'Perhaps next time you should think twice before kissing someone if it doesn’t mean anything to you. Not all of us are like that.' He turned around and marched to the building. Oh god... Dwalin will notice for sure, he will know he had just kissed a guy. Because he did it, for that short moment, he kissed Kili back... oh god, oh god!

**THE HOUSEKEEPER**

'So, Mrs. Jackson,' Gloin sat down opposite her, offered her one of Dwalin’s cigarettes and showed her a photo of the victim. 'Have you ever seen this woman?'

The housekeeper took a shaky breath and squeaked, shivering. Fili shot a concerned look at her. The poor old lady, it must have been quite a shock for her... But then she lit the cigarette, took a drag and miraculously calmed down.

'Yes, I’ve seen her. She came in the house yesterday at six. Oh, wait, at seven. Yes, at seven, that’s when Bridget Jones’s Diary started on TV and I remeber thinking that she had just the same figure as poor Bridget. You’ve got to admit, she is... was... rather chubby. Whoever did it had to be a fairly strong fellow to carry her to Goblin’s apartment.'

'So you think Mr. Goblin has nothing to do with the murder?' Dwalin asked, moving his cigarette packet from within her reach as she eyed it.

'Him?' she gave a little laugh, 'Oh, please, a woman like that would have beaten him if he so much as tried!'

'We have a reasonable suspicion to believe that she was poisoned,' Dwalin said, watching her closely.

A smile she could barely hide flickered across her face at an anticipation of a juicy gossip she could spread, 'Oh, well, in that case I suppose it could have been him. He is such a cowardly creature, he wouldn’t shoot or strangle, no, but poison... Why do you think he did it?' She leaned to them eagerly.

'We do not imply any such thing, Mrs. Jackson,' Dwalin leaned towards her as well and Fili had to smile upon the fact that his chief inspector was obviously leading this investigation even though Gloin just asked him for assistance. But the inspector from the Homicide Squad next to him didn’t seem to mind at the slightest. 'Do you remember how did she act when she came here?'

'Ah! She was definitely scared, she stopped for a moment in front of the main door, looked up and down the street and then entered.'

'Any idea to where she went after that?'

'Alas, no. I might have snoop- I mean... I might have gone out with the trash (I usually do at seven) and see where she was going but just at that moment Bridget’s mother introduced her to Mark Darcy and he is such a charmer, don’t you think? I stayed in my apartment and watched...'

'Anything else you might have heard or seen during the evening or night?'

'Well,' the lady sat thinking for a while, 'I’ve seen a black sedan parked in the backstreet around midnight... yes, that‘s when I woke up after the film finished and went with trash. It doesn’t belong to anyone in this house and it was really fancy, shining new.'

'Have you seen the driver or anyone nearby?'

'No, but when I put Eagle out half an hour later, it was gone...'

'Pardon me, but... an eagle?' Gloin joined in, interested for the first time.

'My tomcat,' Mrs. Jackson explained, smiling lovingly. 'Eagle III., duke of London, count of England, prince of Great Britain.' She waved her hand behind her shoulder and there on the wall was the largest collection of framed photos, each of them featuring an enormous tabby cat.

'How sweet!' Gloin exclaimed enthusiastically.

'Isn’t it?' the housekeeper beamed on him. 'I will let you pet him when he gets back.'

Dwalin ran his palm over his face and remained impassive and Fili chuckled. Kili was right, flatter her and she’s yours. His heart started beating frantically when he remebered his dark neighbour. What was he even trying to imply by kissing him? He... did sometimes wonder what it would be like with a guy... but that didn’t mean he was gay, every man thought about it at least once, there’s nothing wrong with that. And... to suggest that he preffered men, that he would be interested in him... that was...

'Fili,' Dwalin’s calm voice broke his train of thought, 'you’re breaking the pen, and it’s the only one we have...'

Fili glanced at his hand lying on the notepad, clutching the pen so tight his knuckles were white. He dropped it as casually as possible, turning his attention to the room again. Anything new? No, still the cat...

'If you pet him, he will love you. Oh, can I offer you some cookies perhaps? I used to cook for all my tenants before but the current ones are so nice, saying they don’t want to tire me...'

'Perhaps later, Mrs. Jackson,' Dwalin interrupted her upon seeing she was leaning way too close to Gloin. 'That will be all for now. Now, if you’ll excuse us, we have to speak to Mr. Bifur and Mr. Bombur... '

'Of course,' she stood up, flashing one more dazzling smile at Gloin before turning to open the door for them. But once there, she stopped abruptly. 'Now that you mention them Dwalin...' she frowned a little, 'when I was outside with the trash, I believe I heard a muffled thud, as if something heavy fell on the floor... At first I thought that Mr. Bombur had a heart-attack or something, you know how he is, he should do some exercise. But it’s always the same with the cooks-'

'The thud, Mrs. Jackson. The thud.'

'Ah, yes. So I fancy the sound came from their apartment...'

'But you’re not sure?'

'Why, no... It’s a warm night, all the windows are open, it might have come from somewhere else... And then the sounds and noises carry differently at night, have you noticed?'

**THE COOKS**

Mr. Bombur looked really well for a man who supposedly had a heart-attack earlier that evening. He was sitting next to his cousin, his plump fingers intertwined over his round belly, a red honest face smiling at them. Fili liked him because, considering the rest of the house residents, he seemed pretty normal. And his cousin too. When Bifur was younger he must have been fairly popular among girls, there was still something about his melancholy expression beneath the grey-streaked hair...

Fili looked around their apartment. It looked like a boudoir of an old lady, with way too many things fashioned out of dark scarlet velvet and fake gold. Apparently, both gentlemen were amateur artists. There was an easel in one corner, with a bunch of paintbrushes and painter’s colours and some rather avant-garde looking landscape. There was also a potters’s wheel in the other corner, with a shelf full of home-made cups behind it, all rather crudely made.

Gloin’s sergeant was back to inform them that according to doctor Oin, the victim was really murdered with cyanide. ('Good, good, tell the boys to look for it.') The sergeant nodded, scanned the contents of the room they were currently in and then bent to Fili, whispering, 'Even my five-year old could do a better job...' What however caught his (and everyone else’s) attention was a life-size gilt statue of naked Venus standing in the middle of the living-room.

'Tell me, gentleman, have you seen this woman before?' Dwalin asked, showing them the same picture he had shown to Mrs. Jackson.

'No,' Bombur shook his head.

'Never,' Bifur added.

'It’s awful what happened to her...'

'Terrible.'

Fili sat down as well and took out his notepad, looking at both men in front of him. Mr. Bifur spoke with a strange accent he could not put anywhere.

'May I ask what  you did yesterday in the evening?' Dwalin went on in his calm manner.

'Well, we came back from the hotel at... five?' Bombur turned to his cousin.

'Five.'

'And we had a dinner, watched bingo and then went to bed at... what could it be, eight?'

'Eight.'

'Have you seen or heard anything strange during the evening?' Dwalin glanced at Fili’s notes, where there were only numbers five and eight so far.

'Well, I saw that creep Goblin coming home some time before eight and you know what? He wasn’t limping. All that rubbish about him being terribly ill and here he goes, striding like he is twenty. You know he takes money for that leg?'

'I haven’t seen him,' Bifur said, looking around the room vaguely.

'That’s very fascinating,' Gloin mumbled, taking Fili’s pen and writing something in his own little pad. Apparently, for the head of Homicide Squad, insurance fraud was a bigger crime than murder.

'Have you heard any sort of thud during the evening?' Dwalin snatched the pen and gave it back to Fili.

Both cooks turned to him quickly.

'T-thud, you say?' Bombur asked.

'Yes, one of the witnesses claims to have heard a thud coming from the house at some point during the night.'

'We haven’t heard any thud.'

'Not ever.'

It seemed to Fili suddenly, that even Mr. Bifur’s impassive features morphed in an alarmed expression for a second. But the moment passed just as quickly and the man assumed his disinterested demeanour again.

'Did anyone visit you yesterday?'

'Nooo,' Bombur answered slowly, cocking his head a little, eyeing the detective wearily, 'No one ever visits us...'

'Ever,' Bifur agreed.

'Any idea as to who might have killed her?' Dwalin asked and crossed his hands on his chest.

Bombur looked taken aback, 'Well, we assumed it was Goblin...'

'Yeah, Goblin.'

Fili sighed, scribbling over his outline of the house and its inhabitants. They were real help, these two... His pen stopped suddenly when he realized that the next one who they should visit was Kili...

**THE ROGUE**

Kili sat down on one of his boxes, his gaze successfully avoiding Fili’s. His nose was a little red, but obviously not broken, no sign of blood anywhere. Good, that was good.

Maybe he overreacted a little... Ori said the boy was joking all the time, maybe he didn’t mean anything by it after all... Maybe he himself just took it personally, because...  well...

'Have you ever seen her before, Kili?'

The boy took the photo in his hand, staring at it intently, frowning. He hesitated for a moment but then returned it to Dwalin again.

'I don’t think so. I mean... she looks a little familiar but I don’t think I’ve met her.'

Dwalin sighed, 'Have you seen anyone or anything?'

'Not really,' Kili shrugged his shoulders, 'if you don’t count Gal standing on her balcony...'

Gloin stopped rocking on his chair, 'What’s so special about that?'

'Well, she never leaves her apartment during the day. Not even to get on that balcony. And this could have been at what, six? Some time after six, becuase I left the _Café_ at quarter past six and then went to the convenience store. And the sun was shining straight at her place, I actually expected her to burst in flames or something...'

'Is Gal that blonde lass from the top floor?' Gloin asked Dwalin and the detective nodded. 'Well, no wonder she’s so pale then... Perhaps she finally decided to get some tan, and it’s admirable that she’s doing it the natural way instead of going to one of these tanning salons... All the girls nowadays, you can see they just ain’t looking natural...'

'Okaaay,' Dwalin interrupted him again, turning back to Kili. 'What was she doing?'

'Nothing, just looking down at the street. I just noticed because it’s never happened before...'

'What did you do then?'

'Unpacking... and then at eleven I went to bed.'

'Any theory as to why the victim ended up in Mr. Goblin’s apartment?'

'I have honestly no idea,' Kili answered and then a smile flickered across his lips, 'unless she-' He stopped himself, shooting a quick look at Fili and the officer knew he was just about to come up with another wild story about how it might have happened which probably included Goblin being a woman or something equally irrational. 'Well... this is not a thing to joke about, is it?'

Fili’s head snapped up and he looked at the boy. Kili was sitting with his hands in his lap, his eyes gazing at the cup of coffee he was holding. Fili took a shaky breath. It seemed to him that his heart was pounding feverishly and yet no blood did flow through it. So loud and painful was his heartbeat, as he looked at Kili’s face. Maybe he has an arrhythmia... What helps on that? Aspirin?

He should apologize for punching him. Jesus, the boy kissed him and he was the one who wanted to apologize... But he did want to. Maybe he had unintentionally given him some wrong impression. Kili had seen him leaving Dwalin’s apartment, he knew Dwalin was with Ori, he knew Fili just broke up with his girlfriend... the only logical conclusion that came from it was...

'I didn’t catch what you do, Mr. Kili?' Gloin asked, scrutinizing the boy's appearance. 'What are you, some kind of a rockstar?'

'A baker,' Kili answered, looking at the chief inspector with a mistrustful expression.

'Ahh!'

'Well, that’s it, Kili. If you remember something, let us know. Or Fili, for that matter, he will be right next to you after all.'

Fili winced. Right next to you. As in... across the hall. That’s what Dwalin meant. That’s all... He could see Kili looking at him for the first time when he stood up to see them out. He waited for Dwalin and Gloin to pass and then turned to Fili as the officer was leaving his apartment.

'I hope...' the boy started, 'that I... I know we didn’t start off all that well, but I hope that perhaps over time we could make it work. As in- we could be friends. Yeah. Friends. Well... goodnight.' He dropped his gaze to the floor and closed the door without looking at him.

'Well, that was jolly odd,' Gloin grunted, 'what did you do to each other, Fili?'

Fili was still staring at Kili’s door. What did they do to each other indeed... 


	3. The Writer & The Goblin & The Rentier & The Wrestler

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 3, in which Fili hears some suggestions and receives an invitation...

# Midnight Man

### Chapter 3 - The Writer & The Goblin & The Rentier & The Wrestler

**THE WRITER**

Mr. Bofur, the acclaimed writer and saxophone player let them in, sat down and talked for five whole minutes before Fili even realized that he should be writing it all down. He kept glancing at the writer’s door, a most powerful urge to run after Kili filling him to every little corner of his mind. There was something in Kili’s eyes when he looked at him at that door... And the kiss... the boy was sorry about that, he didn’t really mean it as anything bad... God, he should really go after him. Tell him he was sorry as well and that he wasn’t mad at him. That they could be good neighbours.That he could come knocking at his door asking for sugar anytime... They could be friends. Why couldn’t they be friends? He needed a friend his ex didn’t have sex with right now...

'-women, they are all the same, I’m telling you. All sweet and gentle on the surface, and cold-blooded beasts on the inside.' Bofur’s voice. Well, how very fitting.

Dwalin chuckled, 'That’s pretty harsh, coming from the author of romantic novels.'

'Ah, my dear friend, why do you think my books are so popular with the gentle sex? Because I understand them, I know their true nature and I give them precisely what they want. I give them stories about great lovers that don’t exist in real life, but never my heart. I made that mistake once and I learned my lesson.'

Fili reached for his pen and realized that Dwalin had it, just like his notepad, his sweeping handwriting filling the page beneath his neat one. He could feel himself turning red. Dwalin noticed him staring at the door, probably even tried talking to him and he didn’t react...

The detective looked at him and passed him his things with a tiny smile.

Fili scanned his notes. Bofur didn’t recognize the woman. Called her a beefy lass that would fit nicely in some novel about Vikings. Didn’t see or hear anything suspicious yesterday, but would appreciate it if Gal above him got herself some nice carpets because the clicking of her high-heels was getting on his nerves when he was writing. According to his theory the unknown woman had a lover among the residents who 'killed her in the heat of passion upon finding her heart didn’t belong to him anymore, and then after sprinkling her lifeless body with bitter tears, hid her body in Goblin’s apartment weeping with blind rage'.

Fili raised his eyebrows. Wow, what a vision...

'And who might that unknown lover be according to you?' Dwalin asked with a smile.

'Hmm... it’s true that there’s not too much to choose from here. Unless she liked balding fat chaps like Goblin... I’d say that it could be you, Dwalin, you’re a pretty good-looking man, but we all know your preferences lie somewhere else,' he chuckled. 'And if you want to know my opinion, you did the only sensible thing. There’s just no way one could live a happy life with a woman.'

Dwalin chuckled, 'Oh, well, we all make our choices, mine just happens to be the best. Listen, Bofur, what are those?' They all turned their heads in the direction indicated by the detective. One whole wall of library shelves in the living room seemed to be filled with bundles of letters.

Bofur sighed, 'Letters from my fans... usually ladies around 60, telling me how much I changed their lives and asking me whether I‘m single...'

'How many do you have?' asked Gloin in awe.

'Absolutely no idea, thousands I guess...'

Bofur parted with them with a smile of someone who had already seen too much of this world and was getting tired of it and few moments later they could hear him playing his sax.

'What,' Gloin asked, turning to his friend, once they all stood in the corridor, his brow deeply furrowed, 'on earth did he mean by your preferences lying somewhere else?'

Dwalin glanced at Fili, lighting a cigarette. 'He’s an enigma, Gloin, just forget about it.'

**THE GOBLIN**

Mr. Goblin entered his new apartment cautiously, not looking left or right, just straight ahead at the detectives in front of him as if worried that he might find another body that the police had missed during their search earlier.

'Well, my men, it would appear I will indeed have to spend the night here...' he grunted as he sat down unhappily, forcing his corpulent body to fit in an armchair.

'Your wife refused to let you spend the night at her place?' Gloin asked sympathetically.

'Yes, says that she wouldn’t be suprised if I murdered the lady...' he looked quickly up, 'which I didn’t!'

'Uhuh, now if you’d be so kind and tell us exactly what happened...' Dwalin said.

Now that he calmed down, Mr. Goblin was eager to do so. He came home at eight o’clock yesterday, he had been to a... concert, you see. (All three detectives simultaneously wondered what kind of music could someone like him like...) He came to his apartment, realized he was too tired to unpack the rest of his things and went straight to bed, forgetting to pour himself a cup of water. He was often thirsty at night and his thirst didn’t fail to wake him that night either. So he finally got up at two in the morning and went to the kitchen and, remembering that all his cups were still in the boxes, went back to the living room. He stumbled over something on his way, turned on the lights and saw that it was a handbag. As he thought that it was odd, he noticed an unknown woman lying on his couch, her face ashen. He knew the moment he looked at her that she was dead. He screamed  'Murder' as many times as he could and then fainted. When he came to himself, Bofur and that nice lady from upstairs were there, passing him a shot of cognac and informing him that the police was on their way.

No, he didn’t hear absolutely anything, not even creaking of the floor.

Yes, he was sure the woman wasn’t lying there in the evening when he came back.

Did he see anything strange? Well no. He got up once that night, and that was around ten... or eleven... or maybe midnight? just to open the window in his bedroom because it was too damn hot inside. What? Any people in the backstreet? No, only Kili, just getting out of his car and chatting with someone in the windows down there. Oh, he has a real nice car, all black and shiny. He must sure make a good living from the baking to afford a car like that...

'Very well, Mr. Goblin, that would be all,' Dwalin said, stading up from his chair.

'Y-you sure you don’t want to stay here a little longer?'

Fili was staring at their vast witness. Mrs. Jackson said the black car didn’t belong to anyone in the house. Kili said he was in his flat the whole night from roughly six thirty. Mr. Goblin said he saw Kili getting out of that car as if it were his own...

He turned to look at Dwalin, whose confused expression reflected his own.

**THE RENTIER**

Gal didn’t come to her living room, she glided inside as some beautiful ethereal being. She smiled at them, motioned for them to sit on a huge sofa as she herself sat down opposite them, and Gloin’s mouth fell open. Fili snorted and then pretended to cough. The chief inspector seemed to be charmed by every single woman he met.

'You have the most beautiful-' he started, staring at Gal’s breast, where the thin white angora sweater was fastened with a sapphire brooche, '-name. Is that Irish?'

'British,' she answered, her voice deep and rich.

'May I ask what you do, madam?' Dwalin asked, the only one in the room completely uncharmed by her beauty.

She turned to look at him slowly, her expression suddenly sad. 'I am a rentier. My late husband got lost in the sea many years ago and I managed to sell his company for a very good price, allowing myself to live the life of comfortable liberty.'

'You’ll pardon me asking that, but surely there are more classy addresses around town than Ered Luin...'

She smiled so widely that had there been daylight they would have all been blinded by the whiteness of her teeth. 'That may be right, Mr. Dwalin, but half my apartment is constituted of a greenhouse here. You wouldn’t find such an architectural masterpiece anywhere else in the city.'

'I see,' Dwalin nodded and judging from his expression he had no idea there was any such thing at the last floor. 'Now, have you ever seen this woman before?' He asked, showing her the photo.

'I have,' she nodded, 'I was standing on my balcony and have seen her entering this building at around seven o’clock. She was acting rather... skittish.'

'Have you seen anyone following her?' 

'No.'

'Have you seen or heard anything unusual during the night?'

'Well...' she hesitated, dropping her head a little and the golden curtain of her hair descended slowly from her shoulders, blowing upon them a sweet scent of jasmine shampoo. 'I went to bed early but then woke suddenly. I though I heard a scream, you see. But I’m fairly sure I only imagined it. It was too hot inside, so I went and opened the door to the balcony and there I saw... Well, a man caught my attention. He was walking very fast, almost running, from the backstreet and around our building and at first I though it was young Kili from the second... oh, first floor now, but it wasn’t him.'

'You’re sure about that?' Fili asked, unconsciously leaning closer to her over the table. He knew it, he knew Kili wasn’t telling lies.

Gal looked at him, her pure blue eyes studying him and he could feel his cheeks turning red under that gaze, and then she smiled, 'Yes, I’m sure. This man had much shorter hair and he was more broad in shoulders. Kili is tall and slender.'

Fili sighed deeply, realizing that the whole time he was unconsciously holding his breath. That settled it then, she knew Kili, she would recognize him. Smiling, he glanced at Dwalin, noticing that the detective was looking at him the whole time.

Dwalin turned to their witness again, 'Any theory about who did it?'

'I believe...' she stood up gracefully from her chair and passed to a great mirror behind her, running one hand over the jewel case that stood nearby. The whole mahagony chest was stuffed with jewels encrusted solely with deep blue sapphires. 'I am almost certain, that this is a crime of passion, inspector. Not only good things come from love. Some kinds of love burn too radiant and deep and then hurt...' She turned around, looking straight at Fili. 'My husband said that there are places in this world where everyone can meet their true love sooner or later and that Ered Luin was one of them. Do you believe that?'

**THE WRESTLER**

'Ah, the last fellow. Can’t wait to get away from here and straight to bed. What’s his name again?' Gloin yawned and stretched a little. 

'Fred Gazile,' Dwalin answered, checking  the list of tenants he got from Mrs. Jackson to be sure. 'I’ve seen the fellow only once or twice.'

Gloin chuckled, 'Sounds like Godzilla...' He looked at Dwalin and they both started to laugh. There was probably some old joke going with that word that the two of them shared but Fili was too tired to actually ask.

Then the door of the apartment next to them flew open and out of it marched a huge man. What Mr. Goblin had in fat, Mr. Gazile had in muscles. There were even strong muscles in his face and what he did to exercise those, Fili had no idea. He remembered Kili’s warning about the man’s eyes but only after he already looked into them, a cold shiver running down his spine. He had never seen such pale blue eyes on anyone. They looked cruel and merciless and were far too small for his face.

'Let’s make this short,' the man growled, 'I have to get up early tomorrow... today.'

'Certainly,' Dwalin agreed, pushing his way inside, followed by the other two, 'do you know this woman?'

A shadow might have crossed the man’s features but it was hard to tell. 'No.'

Fili scanned the room quickly. Mr. Gazile seemed perfectly content living his life with only a bed, a tv, a set of dumbbells and steroid food complements. And hankies. His whole rubbish bin was full of them... Perhaps he had a soft heart beneath all those muscles and had also been watching Bridget Jones’s Diary last night...

'Have you se-'

'No, I haven’t seen or heard anything. I came home before eight and went straight to bed because unlike most people I have to work early in the morning.'

'Do you mind me asking what is your profession?'

'I’m a wrestler... But during the week I work down in the harbour.'

Fili ducked his head and smiled. Well, would you look at that? There really was a wrestler in the house. He wondered whether Kili knew...

'I see. Well, that will be all then...'

They vacated the apartment and looked at each other as its owner slammed the door shut behind them. What a case...

Gloin’s sergeant climbed up the stairs, holding a small plastic bag in his hand.

'Found anything interesting?' the inspector asked with hope in his voice.

'Only this,' he passed them the bag with a single brightly pink feather inside. 'Thought you might wanna see it. We found a small box under the washbasin in that Goblin’s bathroom, it‘s full of these. Might be worshipping flamingos... weirdo.'

*****

Fili was standing in front of Kili’s apartment, his hand half risen to knock. He should wait for tomorrow, maybe the boy was already sleeping... A boy... he started to think about him like that when he found out that Kili was indeed few years younger than him. Kili came from being a man to being a boy and Fili was suddenly concerned about him... He sighed and knocked lightly on the door. He will count till ten and if nobody opens he will come back and apologize tomorrow.

One, two, three, four-

The door opened and Kili’s head appeared, his hair all ruffled, wearing exactly the same grey pyjamas Fili had. Brilliant. Was that saying something about them?

Kili’s face lit up a little when he saw him but went serious almost at the same moment.

'Captain?'

'I came... to apologize. For punching you earlier...'

Kili hesitated but then grinned, 'It’s all right. It didn’t hurt all that much. I don’t think you've put all your strength in it...'

'No, I probably haven’t...'

He should go, he said what he wanted, the boy accepted his apology, he should go... It was just a matter of turning around and going to his own door. Gloin was long gone, and so was Dwalin, going straight to Ori’s... So why was he still standing here?

'Want to drop in for a beer?' Kili said suddenly, not looking at him.

'It’s five in the morning.'

'So?'

Fili was looking at him. This was such a bad idea. But he didn’t want to be alone. The moment he’s alone he will start thinking about her... and Kili said he wanted to be his friend...

'Sure, I can have a beer.'

As he was passing the boy in the doorway, he caught a whiff of a familiar smell. Good heavens, they were even using the same shower gel... He followed Kili into the living room, passing cardboard boxes along the way.

'The unpacking’s going rather slowly, huh?' he observed and Kili glanced at him.

'Would have gone faster if I bothered to separate the things when packing them, but I just heaped everything in the boxes and went. I bet you’re more organized. All your boxes neatly packed and properly labeled,' he smiled at Fili as he passed him a can of beer and took the rest of a six-pack from the fridge.

'Considering I only have two suitcases, it went real well... I’ll just need to grab the uniforms tomorrow.'

Kili removed a blanket from the couch on which he was obviously sleeping till Fili knocked and they sat down. The cushions were still warm... Kili’s leg brushed against his but Fili didn’t move it. It was all right, they were friends, he shouldn’t jump to conclusions everytime Kili touched him...

'What do you have in those boxes anyway?'

'Books, mostly.'

Fili sipped his beer, 'You must have books about everything...'

'Nearly.'

'You have some detective stories?'

'Sure, tons, I know everything about how you guys work,' Kili smiled at him again. He had such a nice, honest smile...

Fili laughed, 'From detective stories? Yeah, right. All right, how about cook books?'

'I’d say... three or four boxes are stuffed with those.'

'You serious? What about some... love stories?'

Kili giggled, 'I hate to admit it, but I have three Bofur’s books.'

Fili smiled as well. 'Are they any good?'

'Suprisingly yes.'

'How about books about wrestlers?'

'Just one...'

Fili finished his beer and winked at Kili, 'Did you know, that Mr. Gazile from upstairs is a wrestler?'

'No way!' Kili's eyes got wide as he turned to him, 'Any chance he’s a woman?'

That thought send them to a fit of giggling, proving to Fili that alcohol did indeed work faster on an empty stomach. 'I don’t know,' he gasped for breath when they finally stopped, 'I doubt that for some reason. But you know what?' he took another can from Kili, 'you were totally right about his eyes. They are the creepiest thing I’ve ever seen.'

'I knooow! I have to look at the floor or ceiling when I’m passing him in the corridor!' they both started laughing again.

'And you were right about Mrs. Jackson too, she really does spy the street most of the time. Have you noticed that when she smokes, she’s less chatty?'

Kili giggled, leaning closer to Fili, 'Yeah, I have this theory that she is only capable to use her mouth for one thing at a time.' They both roared with laughter and then dropped back on the sofa, trying to catch their breath.

Fili finished his second beer but still clutched the empty can in his hand. 'You were right about everyone,' he said, his voice coming out as a whisper and Kili turned to look at him. 'How about me, though? Why did you think I was... into guys?'

'I don’t know,' Kili answered in an equally quiet voice. 'When I lived above Dwalin, I used to spent most of the time on the fire-escape, reading or smoking and sometimes I heard you two talking when you came to spend the night there and Dwalin was smoking by the open window... And somehow... I just got the impression, but mostly... I guess I was just hoping.'

Fili looked at him. He could feel the alcohol in his blood supressing some part of him that was always in control... He should go before things get way too complicated. He put the empty can on the floor by the sofa but when he next straightened up, Kili’s hand wrapped around his.  

'Don’t go,' he whispered, watching Fili carefully, almost as if waiting for him to punch him again, 'I swear I won’t do anything, just... could you stay here tonight?' He took a deep breath, breathing out slowly, silently, his eyes still fixed on the man in front of him. And there was something in them Fili hasn't noticed before, a fear. He looked suddenly much more younger than when they met, looking at him with scared wide eyes of a little boy. And that was not suprising, a murder had just occured in his very house and the murderer, as all seemed to agree, was one of the tenants. Fili was a cop, he was used to things like this, but Kili wasn’t and now he was scared.

Fili glanced around the room, at the half unpacked things. There weren’t any photos or anything suggesting that the boy had someone in his life. Was he alone? How long has he been alone...? He turned his gaze to him again.

This was wrong, this was so wrong, he will regret it tomorrow... 'All right.' 


	4. The Midnight Man & The Bartender

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 4, in which Fili shares lunch with Kili, talks to Beorn and has a rather unexpected visitor in form of his ex.....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies about the sudden change in the total chapter number, but I had to split the last two chapters in two's since they were too long and I can't keep my attention for so long while uploading them..... :)

# Midnight Man

### Chapter 4 - The Midnight Man & The Bartender

'You don’t think I’m a coward or something, do you?' Kili asked when he switched off the lights, locked the door and came back to sit down next to Fili on the couch.

The officer shook his head, 'No. Everyone’s afraid when something like this happens... I had my fair share of nights when I didn’t want to be alone as well... '

Kili was running his fingers over the hem of his blanket, biting his lip, 'One would think you can get used to it, but you can’t, can you?'

Fili looked at him but could not see the boy‘s face because he had his head bent, dark curls forming a little barrier between him and the rest of the world. Ori said Kili didn’t have it easy in life... And now... the boy wasn’t talking about Fili and his profession, was he? He was talking about himself...

Fili didn’t know what to say, he didn’t want to pry, they barely knew each other, but...

'You ever witnessed a murder before?' he asked quietly.

Kili shook his head, 'Not a murder like this, no,' He raised his gaze to Fili, eyeing him searchingly, as if wondering how much he can tell him before the officer considers it way too intimate and leaves.

'What happened?' Fili asked. He can tell him, he won’t leave no matter what the boy tells him.

Kili tilted his head back, resting it on one of the couch cushions behind him, looking at the ceiling. 'It was some years ago. My father’s rather... adulterous, if I put it nicely. He made quite a few husbands angry in his life but he’s rich, so he can afford to have this bunch of bodyguards around him all the time so that no one ever gets too close to him. And no one ever did, except for one...

It was one of those few days when the old man realized he also has a second son and wanted to have a chat with me, you know, to see how my life is going, what happened in the last year when he was too busy to speak to me...

So we are in the sitting room, his guys around him as always and out of nowhere here comes this guy, a real tall blonde dude with a gun and he’s absolutely calm, he points his gun at my father and starts talking about his wife... And naturally the whole security crams around their boss, all confused because nobody knew how he even got into the house.

And I remember sitting there, scared right to my bones because I knew someone in that room was going to die... It was the strangest feeling, but I knew it... And then the blond guy turned to me and fired. And everything suddenly turned into a slow motion, I could see his calm face, I could hear my father’s scream and you know what? I was about to die and the only thing I was thinking about was that maybe my father cared about me after all. He screamed because he thought the guy had got me and I could see him trying to get through his men to me... And for that short moment I was really happy. How frikkin weird is that?

But then someone fell on me and the slow motion ended. There was shouting and running and shooting... and I realized that one of the bodyguards was with me the whole time. One of stayed with me, and took the bullet instead of me. And as the others were running around, chasing the blonde man, I held him in my arms, I could feel his blood all over me, warm and sticky... I couldn’t see him properly because I was crying the whole time, he was trying to tell me something but I couldn’t hear him either because I was sobbing so hard, calling for someone to help. But all that time he was talking to me, and I’ll never know what it was he was saying because he died then, he died in my arms...' he looked at Fili, 'You know what’s the worst part of it? He was the only person in that damn house who really cared about me, who really loved me and I had to watch as he left me forever...' 

Fili was looking at him, a deep need to comfort the boy somehow, anyhow rushing through him, 'You were close?'

Kili nodded, toying with his blanket again,'Yeah, we were. When he died... I just couldn’t stay in that house anymore, there was no one left there who’d care about me... I try not to think about it, I’ve barely thought about it in the last couple of years. It’s just that today...' He clutched the soft fabric and when he next looked at Fili, his eyes were shining with tears.

And without even thinking about it, Fili took the blanket from his hands, wrapped it around him and pulled him to himself. Hugging him because it was the only thing he could think of to do right now and he could hear Kili breathe out with suprise. But then the boy buried his head in his neck, his hands sliding to Fili’s sides as he embraced him too. And Fili held him, running his fingers through the boy’s dark hair, as his warm tears were slowly soaking their way to his skin...

And a long forgotten memory came back to him suddenly, of someone hugging him just like this, just like he was now hugging Kili...

'Midnight man...' he didn’t even know he spoke aloud until Kili raised his eyes to him, resting his head still on the officer’s shoulder. Fili glanced at him, 'It’s... just something I remembered. A song... my father used to sing it to me when I was little.' He didn’t really know why but he just kept talking, memories long gone coming back to him. 'He was a cop as well, and got hurt many times during the service and when I was a boy, I got scared every time he was to go to work. And every evening he would come to my room and sing this song about a Midnight man...'

'How does it go?' Kili asked, his voice hoarse.

Fili tried to remember but could only recall some pieces. 'I don’t really know anymore. It was about a lonely boy whose only friend was this Midnight man... but he could only come to him at night. And if the boy was sad, the man hugged him and held him all through the night, singing him a song until he was all right... but the kid didn’t understand the words and was asking the man what he is singing about and he used to reply 'Only that I am all right, that I am still alive, nothing else...'

He told the boy that he has to leave in the morning but the boy should never forget that he was all right and alive, and will come back to him again in the evening, always... Dad sang it to me and then one evening he said, 'Do you understand what this song is about, Fili? You need not to worry about me, because even if I don’t come back from work one day, you must know that I am all right and alive somewhere. And I will always be keeping an eye on you...' He got shot during a raid the next day...'

He looked at Kili and realized tears were running down his own cheeks. God, he was crying like a baby... He ran his sleeve clumsily over his face, how embarrassing... He could feel Kili shufling with his blanket, wrapping it around him too and lying down, one arm still around Fili’s waist, pulling him gently with him. And Fili went with it, it didn’t cross his mind to protest at all. He laid down next to the boy on his tiny sofa, looking into eyes that were watching him intently.

'Thank you,' Kili whispered, hiding his head in Fili’s neck again, 'For being my Midnight man...'

*********

Fili woke up, made sure it was still dark outside and closed his eyes again. He felt really well rested and nothing hurt him, which was weird considering he spent the night curled on half of a couch.

Half of a couch...?

He opened his eyes again. Oh, damn...

He was lying pressed to Kili, his head buried in the boy’s black curls, his hand over the other’s waist, keeping him close to himself, and it was most unsettling how comfortable that felt. He could hear him breathing, snoring lightly, wrapped in his blanket even though the morning was warm. Yeah, the morning. It wasn’t dark outside, it was merely cloudy, heavy rain falling down. What time was it? Didn’t Kili have clock? Oh, there... eleven, not so bad, considering...

He moved his head slightly, watching as ringlets of dark hair shifted on Kili’s neck. This was so new... all the girls he had were so soft and fragile, but Kili’s body was firm and solid beneath his fingers, made of hard muscles... And yet he still felt so warm and nice. Now that he thought about it, he hadn’t slept this well in ages. With her, he never felt this need to hold her through the night. They both had their sides of bed and they kept to them, without any mutual agreement, it just worked that way and no one complained. Could it be...

Fili sighed, burying his head back into Kili’s hair. This time yesterday he was in his previous flat, packing his things, thinking how much his life sucked and how much he disliked this boy and now... now Kili was wrapped in his arms and the thought of leaving him before he woke up was unbearable.

Dammit. Dammit. Dammit!

*****

'You want what?' Ori was standing above them, his eyes wide as if not sure whether or not he was being mocked.

'A breakfast,' Kili grinned at him and with the sweetest puppy eyes then added, 'please.'

'It’s two in the aft-' Ori stopped himself, looking from one to another for a moment and then smiled, blushing, 'Oh, I see. Well, I’ll be right back with something.'

Fili was looking after him, running his hand over his face. It was so dark outside that all the lights in _Café Ori_ were on even during the day, bathing them all in a pleasant warm light. 'You do realize that now he probably thinks that we have slept with each other?' he asked Kili who seemed to be buzzed with energy.

'Well,' Kili smiled, not looking at him and running one finger over the menu, 'technically speaking, his assumption is correct... We did sleep with each other.'

'Oh god,' Fili grunted, lying his forehead on the cool table. When he says it like that...

Ori was back, putting two full plates on the table together with two big coffees. Fili sniffed the wonderful smell and raised his head, staring at the generous breakfast in front of him.

'I hope you’ll like them,' Ori said looking at the croissants and clutching a tray to his chest 'they’re Dwalin’s favourite.'

'Mine too,' Kili mumbled, his mouth already full, 'but that’s of no importance to Ori. Dwalin comes always first in his list of priorities, then there’s a long line of nothing and then somewehere at the end, the rest of the world.'

He laughed as Ori hit him with the tray playfully, blushing up to his ears. 'That is not true! You know you’re important as well!' They started bickering and Fili had to smile too. There was no wonder his boss fell for this boy...

'Where is Dwalin anyway?' he asked, looking around as the other two finally stopped.

Ori got serious, 'He got called to the Rivendell Hotel, said there was some sort of robbery... I hope they’ll solve it quickly what with Bofur having a reading there tonight and all...'

'Bofur’s doing a reading there?' Fili asked, suprised. Wow, he really was popular...

The boy nodded, 'He does it there fairly often because all the ladies that stay there adore him.'

Fili’s phone rang and as he picked it up, he saw Ori bending down closer to Kili, whispering something, his eyes concerned. Kili hesitated for a moment as if thinking about something and then shook his head, smiling back at the boy.

'Yeah?' Fili asked cautiously.

'Sergeant Freeman here, sir,' a familiar voice came and Fili relaxed. It was ok, it was only one of his sergeants... For some reason he really didn’t want to have a conversation with his ex in front of Kili... 'I have a message for you from Inspector Dwalin. Says if you could meet him in front of the Erebor Bar in an hour?'

'Sure. Anything else?'

'Well...' Fili heard a muffled sound as if sergeant Freeman put his other hand to the receiver as well, so that no one could hear him, 'I just wanted to say that I’m really proud of you, Fili m’boy.'

Fili stopped with the cup of steaming coffee half way to his lips, 'What are talking about?'

'I’m talking about you finally leaving that ungrateful bitch.'

The captain winced, a bitch may be a bit too strong... But now that he thought about it, Kili used the same word before, didn’t he? And he didn’t mind then... 'How on earth do you know about that?'

'Well, she was here.'

'At the precinct?'

'Yeah, this morning. Can’t believe she can’t even remember you’re on the late shifts this we-'

'What did she want?' Fili glanced at Kili involuntarily and noticed that Ori was gone, the boy in front of him watching him intently.

'To know where you are. Said you had a little misunderstanding and when she came home all your things were gone and you didn’t come back yet,' he could hear the sergeant grin, 'I say, some smooth stealth action there. You’re a doer, all right.'

*****

He made his way throught the afternoon traffic to the Erebor Bar and got out of the car only to see Dwalin and Gloin already waiting for him.

'Ah, Fili, my boy! So glad you’re here!' Gloin beamed at him, patting his shoulders. 'Dwalin was so very kind to let you assist me on the case we got here,' he smiled even widely.

' _We_ got, sir?'

'Yep, well, I’m gonna have a peek inside.' He bounced happily through the door to the bar, leaving both detectives behind, looking after him.

Dwalin sighed and lit a cigarette. 'I’d help myself, but I’ve got to finish one robbery at the Rivendell Hotel...'

Fili nodded, 'I know, Ori told me.'

'What were you doing at Ori’s?'

'We were... I was... never mind...'

Dwalin chuckled, 'Well, I’m gonna find out anyway. But in the meanwhile... I need someone to keep an eye on this case, making sure nothing is overlooked or missed and as you might have noticed, Gloin is rather...'

'Easily distracted?'

The inspector smiled, 'Precisely. There’s something weird about this case, so many things that don’t fit together... Try to do your best on this, Fili, because if you don’t crack it, you’ll be living under one roof with a murderer.'

Fili looked at him. He couldn’t try and sugar coat it, could he?

'Brilliant. Why are we here anyway?' he asked, looking at the sign above the door.

'We’ve found out the identity of the victim,' Dwalin answered, finishing his cigarette. 'The name’s Flameseeker. Gordana Flameseeker. She worked as a singer in the bars, most recently right here.'

'Here?' But... Kili and Bofur said they didn’t know her...

'Yeah,' Dwalin nodded and based on his expression he was wondering about the same thing, 'Well, good luck, kiddo. I’ve got to get back to the hotel before they get into a fight again...'

'What’s going on there?'

'One of the guests arrived there four days ago with a lovely diamond necklace. Decided to wear it yesterday to the dinner to make the other old ladies jealous and one of them was so daring as to tell her that it was fake. Well, they started arguing and in the end called for an expert. And guess what? It’s really fake. But the problem is that she had that very same necklace appraised in Lausanne right before she came here and it was hundred procent real thing... Needless to say she thinks the other lady changed the necklaces to make her look like a fool and they’re arguing there all the time. I got such a headache I had to make a slip to the town for few minutes...'

With a sigh he turned to his car but Fili remembered something all of a sudden. 'Wait, I still got your pen,' he said as he patted his pockets till he found what he was looking for.

'What pen?'

'The one you gave me yesterday when mine stopped working.'

'Oh, that’s not mine. I picked it up on the floor in Goblin’s apartment, it’s probably his...'

Fili looked at the pen as he read the logo, the blue metallic cover relecting the dark sky above them, 'It’s really fancy. _Durin Enterprises_... that’s that mining company, right?'

Dwalin glanced at him from the car window, 'Durin Enterprises? Well, then it’s probably Kili’s. Must have forgotten it there while moving.'

The captain’s heart started beating faster when the name of his neighbour was mentioned. Ah, the arrythmia, maybe he should see a doctor about that... 'What does Kili have to do with Durin Enterprises?'

The inspector looked at him as if the answer should be more than obvious, 'His father owns it.'

*****

He had to admit, the Erebor Bar was a pretty classy place. Everything made out of dark polished wood and equally dark green leather, everything sparkly clean. No cheap plastic anywhere... Every table even had an old-fashioned lamp covered with some translucent crimson fabric... If the band was playing, it would certainly be fairly pleasant to get drunk there.

Gloin was sitting at the bar, talking to a tall bartender, who was wiping the counter with slow regular motions. They looked like some vision from the Nighthawks diner...

'Fili, this is Mr. Beorn,' the chief inspector introduced them. 'He was the one to identify our victim.'

'Poor Gordana,' the man muttered in a voice so deep that it resonated through the room, 'I can’t believe it... But I guess she got what she was asking for, huh? When she didn’t come here yesterday I started looking for her. She was always on time, never missed an evening...'

'What do you mean she got what she was asking for?' Fili asked.

The bartender frowned, 'Well, she was playing her little games... out every night with a different guy...'

'So, no long-term boyfriend?'

'Well, there was this huge fella I had seen her with a few times, a real giant... and then that snobbish guy from uptown in a fancy suit, staring at her like she was a fairy or something when she wrapped her boa around him... Yeah, she was like that, putting a little show to her songs. You should have seen all the old buffers in the front row, all fat and balding, probably grandfathers already, and all drooling over her like teenagers, yeah... she was fairly popular with men...'

'Do you know whether Mr. K-... Bofur knew her?' Fili glanced at the man, studying his face.

'Sure he did. She used to sing right next to him. What? He told you he doesn’t recognize her? Well, that’s hardly suprising. Only a very few people ever saw her out of stage and without make-up. That picture of her you have... I wouldn’t have recognized her either. The Gordana men here knew always had pink or crimson eye-shadows and lipstick, wearing a red-haired wig. If Bofur says he doesn’t recognize her... I’d believe him that.'

'Any idea who might have wanted to kill her?'

'I’d say it was a woman, no man would want to harm a woman like that,' Beorn looked at the door as two brawny men entered. 'Unless he was real jealous...'

*****

Fili reached the door to his office an hour later laden with all the paperwork he could dig up on this case and a sheer desire to get drunk. What was this? Let’s-screw-Fili’s-life-as-much-as-possible week?

The moment he got back to the precinct, his ex materialized out of nowhere, her eyes bloodshot, the rest of her as perfect as always.

'Fili,' she sobbed, running to him. 'How could you-? Why would you-? Don’t you know it didn’t mean anything? I only love you! I’ve always only loved you...' She started crying, pressing her head to his chest. And had his hands not been full, he would have hugged her. He really would.

'Don’t cry,' he whispered into her hair, trying to shift all the papers into one hand so that he could embrace her. But as he was doing so, Kili’s pen he put on top earlier fell from the stack, hit the floor and rolled straight into his office.

And it suddenly seemed to him as if some kind of spell was being broken. This pink bubble he had been in for so long shattering, taking with it any feelings he still might have had for the girl in front of him. God, what was he doing? He very nearly fell into her trap again...

'Listen, I’m busy right now. We’ll talk later, all right?'

She raised her tearful, mascara smeared eyes to him, a little smile appearing on her lips. 'All right, but you will come home, right? You will come back to me?' she nodded to herself eagerly, standing on her tiptoes and kissing him softly, 'I’ll wait for you at home.' She smiled once more, turned around and went to the elevator.

And Fili was standing there, watching her and there was nothing. His heart wasn’t beating faster, no shiver ran through his body when she kissed him... The place where they used to live together was not a home anymore. It was over.

He couldn’t stay at the precinct, he gathered all he needed, told Gloin he was going to go through the papers at home and that he will find him there if he needed.

'Oh, good! I’ll catch a ride with you then. I promised Mrs. Jackson I’ll drop by to try some of her cookies!' the inspector exclaimed with joy.  

And that was where he was now, safely stowed away in the housekeeper’s apartment while she was pushing Eagle out of the door, probably to get some privacy. For what, Fili didn’t want to know.

He looked at his door again and then banged his head on it. He had the keys in his back pocket, he will have to put all the papers down and they were bound to scatter all over the place. He heard the main door opening...

'Hello, Mrs. Jackson, looking stunning today.' A very familiar voice by now indeed.

The housekeeper laughed and from the top of the stairs Fili could see her fanning her blushing cheeks with her hand, 'Oh, Kili, you’re such a flatterer!' Kili laughed as well, sneaking past her and climbed the first ten stairs before noticing Fili standing there, watching him.

'Hi,' he said, smiling shyly.

'Hi,' Fili answered, his heart pounding again. The world has gotten so wrong, this was the way his body was supposed to react when his girlfriend told him to come back, not when his male neighbour greeted him in the hallway.

'Need help with those?'

'Yeah, I’ve got my keys in the back pocket, so if you could just hold-'

Kili’s hand slipped into his pocket without hesitation and took out the keys, unlocking the door and making room for him. The captain was staring at him. He.did.not.just.touch.his.backside... He could feel the blood rushing to his cheeks. Oh wait, he didn’t, he just took the keys out. Yes, that was it, don’t overreact again. He passed inside, his stomach rumbling uncomfortably.

Kili chuckled, scanning the empty kitchen. He raised his hand with a plastic bag, 'Care for some Chinese food?'

Fili dropped his papers carefully on the kitchen table and hesitated. He had already drunk Kili’s beer yesterday, he can’t eat his foo-

'But if you’re busy-'

'No!' Fili interrupted him, way too quickly and better turned to one of the drawers, looking for forks. God... 'Come on in.'

'I promise I won’t disturb you. I’ll just sit here and slurp my noodles quietly.'

Fili laughed, passing the boy a fork, 'I’ll take your word for that.' 


	5. The Drinker & The Lover

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 5, in which Fili builds glass walls, makes a list and gives in, while Kili plays with ice..... ;)

# Midnight Man

### Chapter 5 - The Drinker & The Lover

Fili finished scribbling his notes and looked up at Kili where he was sitting at the table opposite him, deeply absorbed in one of Fili’s books he had found and obviously didn’t have in his vast library, sipping the tea absent-mindedly.

The captain leaned in his chair, relishing in the peace. He would have never been able to do this in his old apartment. Whenever he tried to do some work at home before, his ex was always fussing around, trying to peek into his papers, chatting all the time about this or that...

With Kili... well, most of the time he didn’t even know the boy was there. He was incredibly quiet when he wanted to, letting his presence be known only when he got up to make a coffee or tea and then placing one cup in front of Fili without even asking if he wanted it. He did want it every single time. He glanced at the clock. Eight in the evening, they had been sitting here for three hours together...

Fili sighed, Oin said that the woman was poisoned by cyanide... but there was no trace of it anywhere... He looked at his notes again.

17:00 Bombur and Bifur get home

18:30 Kili gets home, sees Gal on the balcony

19:00 Gordana enters the building

           (seen by Mrs. Jackson and Gal)

20:00 Goblin and Gazile get home

0:00 Mrs. Jackson sees a black car in the backstreet (seen also by Goblin)

         + hears a thud (supposedly from B+B’s apartment)

         + a dark haired man is seen by the car talking with someone in the building (seen by Goblin)

between 0:00 and 0:30 the car disappears

         (a running dark haired man is seen by Gal)

2:00 Goblin gets up to get a glass of water

3:00 police arrives

Did he miss something? There was definitely something missing here... He looked at the pen he was holding, it was really nice...

'Nice pens they’ve got,' he mumbled and the boy finished his page before looking up at him questioningly. 'You father’s company, I mean.'

Kili took the pen he was passing him with expression of someone forced to remove a dead mouse from his veranda. 'Where did you take it?'

'In Goblin’s apartment yesterday. I thought you might have forgotten it there.'

The boy was staring at the pen, emotions Fili could not read running across his face, 'Well, it’s not mine. And I seriously doubt it’s Goblin’s. They don’t give pens like these out, they’re reserved for real wealthy customers... See all those golden parts? That’s real gold.' He pushed the pen back to Fili withot looking at it again, frowning.

Fili was toying with it for a moment, looking at Kili from time to time. For some strange reason he was glad that the boy didn’t get on with his father. Had Kili been where he belonged they never would have met, they would have never spend a peaceful evening in silence like this... they would have never slept next to each other on a small couch...

He remembered Kili’s apartment being completely photo-free...

'So... do you have somebody?' he asked, not really sure he wanted to hear the answer.

Kili looked up at him, a teasing smile on his lips. Good, that was good, he had forgotten about his father. 'Are you asking if I’m dating someone?'

'Well.. yeah, I am...'

' _I’m dating someone constantly, never more than once_ ,' Kili smiled, reading a quote from the book he was holding. He put it down, gazing at Fili intently.

'What does that mean?'

'It’s a very nice euphemism for one night stands... just sex without letting people in, because every time you do that it only leads to tears and pain...'

Fili was looking at him. In moments like these, he looked more mature than he really was... 'That’s sad, Kili, and pretty lonely too...'

'Oh yeah?' the boy looked at him, his eyes twinkling, 'And yet out of two of us, you’re the one with broken heart...'

Kili‘s phone rang somewhere and Fili stood up with their cups, ruffling Kili’s hair on his way, 'Shut up.'

*****

'Don’t you think you’ve had enough, boy?' Beorn leaned on the bar, pouring Fili another shot of vodka.

Fili giggled. Boy? A long time since anyone called him that... A kid? Yeah. But boy? He took the little glass and moved it slowly to the others. How many were there? Twelve? Twenty-four?! No, twelve... Thirteen with this one. He needed twenty to built a solid glass wall out of them behind which he could hide from the world...

He agreed to come with Kili to the Erebor Bar for a glass of something when the boy was called to come and play the sax. And when he got over the shock that the murdered woman in Mr. Goblin’s apartment was in fact someone he knew and went to the stage, Fili decided to stay for a while and listen. He didn’t really want to drink but accepted that first shot from some cute girl, because, well... it was free and she looked like she could afford to buy the whole place so he didn’t really feel all that bad about it. But then her boyfriend came and took her away. Typical, he was so done with trusting women...

'You should never trust a woman, did you know that?' he asked Beorn, pretty proud of himself that he was still able to talk so fluently even after twelve shots of vodka.

'I’ve heard it somewhere,' the man answered with a small smile.

'I’ll take one more,' Fili said, adding another empty shot to his wall. What time was it anyway? Three...?

The bartender was pretending to ignore him, looking somewhere behind him and Fili was staring at him, getting annoyed, 'Look, I’m perfectly fine. I’m not a child, I know how much I can handle.' He stood up from the bar stool to prove his point, the world suddenly spinned with him and he fell straight to the floor. Ouch...

Someone’s arms wrapped around him and helped him up. Oh, his shoulder hurt like hell. And it’s going to hurt even more tomorrow... for some reason that seemed funny, so he started giggling again. His shoulder will hurt tomorrow... like that was his only problem...

'I’ll take care of him,' he heard someone saying in the distance, far far away. Those arms were still around him, keeping him from falling again in that swirling world that surrounded him. He leaned his head on his rescuer’s shoulder. He wanted the spinning to stop.

'You know him?' the bartender asked, his voice strangely bubbly.

'Yeah, he’s my neighbour.' Neighbour? Fili looked up and Kili’s concerned eyes met his. Damn...

'All right, I’m gona close up too, anyway...'

...

'How do you feel?' Kili asked, passing him already a third cup of coffee where he was sitting on the boy’s couch. He loved that couch, it was a nice couch.

'Awful,' Fili croaked, moving his hand slowly towards the cup. If he moved any faster, he would throw up.

Kili insisted he stayed in his place, said he was not going to leave him alone like that. He was so sweet, so caring, Fili loved him too. He was like an angel or something. He sipped his coffee, burning his tongue. He shrugged, it couldn’t possibly hurt more than his head or shoulder.

'Why did you get so drunk?' Kili asked, wrapping another blanket around him. Was he shivering? Yeah, he was shivering. Kili was so attentive. Fili looked at him and beamed.

The boy raised his eyebrow. He was gorgeous that way. Yeah, he was beautiful... How come he didn’t notice it before? Oh, but he did, he did. He was merely in denial. He was way more beautiful than his ex.

'Don’t ask me... anything,' his own voice souded funny. Odd...

'Fine,' Kili said with a smile, 'move a little, I’ve got to check that shoulder of yours...' Ah, his shoulder. With great caution he sat upright, moving to the edge of the couch, turning his back to Kili. The boy pulled his shirt up, untangling his left hand from the sleeve carefully and then pulling it off completely over his head. Damn, it was cold... he wanted yesterday’s night back, it was so warm... He didn’t even realize that Kili was gone till the boy came back, sat down behind him, the couch cushions dropping a little under his weight. He pressed a bag of ice to Fili’s shoulder, it’s freezing impact sobering the officer faster than anything else could have done.

'It’s f-frikkin cold...' he chattered his teeth.

'Yeah, no shit, Sherlock, it’s ice.' Kili chuckled, putting the bag away from his skin for a moment and running his warm fingers over his shoulder blade. They were like the sweetest comfort after the ice and yet they sent more shivers through his body than the frozen cubes...

'Well, at least nothing’s broken or bleeding... too much,' Kili muttered, putting the ice back to his skin, moving a little closer to him, his thigh touching Fili’s.

'Yeah, that’s real luck...' he sighed and bent his head a little, looking at his shirt in his hands. 'She was in the precinct today...' he said, not explaining who, Kili would understand, 'she said I should come back home...'

He could feel Kili’s body tensing behind him. 'Will you?'

Fili shook his head, 'I don’t think home is a place where you’re constantly worried that the other will leave you... Home is a place where there is someone who loves you and cares about you, comforts you when you’re down...' And as he saw Kili’s hand reaching for him, withdrawing at the last moment, a thought occured to him. A thought that should have been obvious sooner... Such place... it was right here, wasn’t it?

He turned around at Kili, the boy’s hand still clutching the ice and for the longest moment they were just looking at each other.

Fili’s heart was pounding but in a regular calm rhytm now that he realized...

He’s waiting for me to do it, he thought. He’s waiting for me because when he tried I hit him... He leaned closer to Kili, burying his fingers in the black hair. A strange shiver was running through his body, he was going to do it, he was going to kiss a man... because... because...

He pressed his lips to Kili’s, realizing that they felt exactly the same way as that first time, soft and wonderful... He felt the boy’s breath on his skin as he sighed with relief, pulling himself closer to Fili. It felt strange only for few moments, before he got used to it... The feeling of Kili’s stubble beneath his fingers, the taste of vodka and coffee mingling with the taste of tobacco as the boy’s tongue brushed against his, the feeling of strangely exhilarating helplessness as Kili’s strong arms pushed him down on the couch, the feeling of the boy's shirt on his naked chest...

Kili ran his hand over Fili’s side, stopping it where the belt ran over the officer’s hip. He was kissing him with such passion and desire that Fili felt he couldn’t possibly stop him should he change his mind about this. But that wouldn't happen, because he wanted it too, he wanted it with his whole heart. He could hear Kili moan against his lips as he slipped his hand to the boy's trousers and started to pull the undershirt out of it.

He couldn’t believe he was doing this. During his whole life, a thing like this was unthinkable, a tabu... to be breaking it now was most intoxicating. He was doing something that was not allowed before and he loved every single second of it, it was unstoppable... He wished he could do this for the rest of his life, with Kili...

He took a shaky breath as the memory of something the boy said came back. _One night stands_... _never let anyone in_... He didn’t care, even if it was only this night, even if it won’t be forever, it will still be the best night of his life... He pulled Kili’s shirt all the way up to his shoulders, the boy sitting for a moment to take it of, looking back at Fili with eyes almost black...

God, he was so beautiful. Dark hair dusting his chest, the muscles there moving with each breath... Fili kept staring into his eyes, unable to look anywhere else. If the world came to its end at that moment, he would die looking into Kili’s warm eyes and would be happy...

A chill ran through him. If they do this, Kili won’t look at him like this tomorrow, or any other day after that. He will have to go back to being just a neighbour... and the boy warned him about that. But he wanted him to look at him like this, like he was the only one in his life... There was still time, they could stop this...

Kili bent down to kiss him again, but Fili held him firmly where he was sitting atop of him. 'I can’t do this,' he whispered, 'I’m sorry, but I... I can’t do a one night stand, I’m just not...' He couldn’t find the right word for what he wanted to say, so instead he just looked at Kili, waiting for him to do something, because he couldn’t.

The boy dropped his head, looking at his fingers where they were lying on Fili’s buckle. 'Neither can I... I lied, I’m sorry, I haven’t slept with anyone since...' he laughed sadly, rubbing his eyes, 'well, it’s been a few years and...' He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath.

And Fili sat up quickly, grasping both his arms and pulling him closer for another kiss.

'Don’t think about him,' he whispered against Kili’s lips, 'he’s gone. If he loved you, he wouldn’t want you to be sad... I’m here now, and I’m not going anywhere.'

Kili opened his eyes, looking at Fili for a moment before wrapping his hands around his neck and kissing him gently. 'You really want this? Me and my miserable life a part of yours?' he smiled a little at Fili, running his fingers absent-mindedly over the officer’s arm.

Fili nodded, wincing with pain as Kili’s hand accidentaly slipped to his shoulder. The boy hesitated, withdrawing his hand, 'I can make it go away. If you let me, I can make all the pain go away... I can be your Midnight man too...' He kissed Fili lightly, waiting for some sign that he could continue.

Fili was breathing hard now, understanding precisely what was on Kili’s mind. If he lets him do that, he if gives in to what he wants... maybe some things will get better, maybe everything will be all right.

'Do it,' he whispered, kissing him lightly one more time and then let the boy’s arms push him down on the couch again. He watched as Kili’s slender and shaking fingers unbuckled his belt and unzipped his trousers. And as he stood up and pulled them down, he bent over him and kissed him again, leaning on him lightly, his fingers brushing over his length. Fili closed his eyes and moaned. God... they were only kissing and already he was this hard...

Then Kili’s weight disappeared from him and the night’s chill hit him as the boy stripped his underwear. Oh god, oh god... he was well aware of Kili’s eyes on him even though he wasn’t looking. He didn’t know what to do next... But then the cushions dropped again, as the boy got back on the couch, laying himself on top of him between Fili’s legs and the officer could feel his lips on his for a fleeting moment, before they moved to his throat.

'You’re so close,' Kili whispered, running his tongue over the tender skin on his nipples and Fili breathed out hard, unable to make any coherent sound, and moaned instead as the boy’s lips moved to his bellybutton. Never, in his entire life had he thought that one day a man would be touching him like this and he would let him, he would let him very willingly...

Kili ran his tongue over his length and Fili’s eyes flew open, closing almost at the same instant. He couldn’t look, it was wrong... it was so damned good, it was wonderful, good heavens... And then the boy's lips wrapped around him, the hotness of his mouth almost killing him and he may have screamed with delight. He kept breathing rapidly, trying to get enough air but none seemed to pass to his lungs. His throat was dry and burning, his shoulder hurt more than ever as he kept arching his back against the couch, he couldn’t feel his fingers anymore because they were holding the upholstery too tight. There was so much pain, there was so much bliss... It seemed to him as if Kili was his lover his entire life, knowing precisely where to touch, where to run his tongue to make him lose his mind.

He was trying to be quiet before but couldn’t hold it anymore, he was panting and moaning under the boy’s touch, all shame long gone. Knowing that Kili was the one doing this to him was the most exhilarating thing he had ever felt...

He opened his eyes but could not see the boy anymore, a white haze was obscuring everything, it took away even his pain... but he wanted Kili, he wanted him right by his side...

He muttered his name, and it turned into the sweetest melody in the haze...

'Kili,' he rasped again, his voice husky, tilting his head a little. He could feel it spreading through him, a wonderful tingling feeling...

The boy pressed his lips to his suddenly, rubbing his hips over his hardness as he did so and as Fili pulled him closer, arching his back to that contact, he came, digging his fingers into Kili’s shoulders and shouting his name. A pleasure he had never felt before filling him, making his body shiver in quivers so mighty that he couldn’t even breathe...

And Kili held him tight in his arms, his head buried in Fili’s neck, his lips caressing his skin. 

'I hope you know,' he whispered.

Fili was slowly falling into a blissful sleep, every movement, ever word was so immensely tiring... 'Know what?'

'How much I’m in love with you...' 


	6. The Father & The Forger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 6, in which feathers fall, pale men care for their sons and freedom is valued more than diamonds.....

# Midnight Man

### Chapter 6 - The Father & The Forger

Kili was sleeping on his belly with his mouth slightly open, his warm breath brushing Fili’s side. The officer woke up an hour earlier, mighty thirsty. He untangled carefully from Kili’s embrace and went to the kitchen, drinking three glasses of water before he started to feel in any way better. He stood there leaning on the fridge, looking at the boy on the couch and the mess of their clothes on the floor.

He should get dressed, go back to his place and try to get a little bit further with the case. That was a responsible thing to do and in his whole life he had always been the responsible one. This world has certain rules and they have to be followed to sustain order... Yeah, that’s what his life had been till he met Kili, a strict order...

Well, he supposed that he could stay for a little longer, he could do the thinking here as well as anywhere, right? He went to the couch again, thinking that perhaps he should at least take his underwear but it was a nice warm morning, so he climbed back to Kili just as he was. He snuggled closer to him under the blanket and the boy mumbled something in his sleep, slipping his hand around Fili's waist.

How on earth did it even come to this? At what point did someone somewhere decide that he needed a change in his life so huge and incredible that everything will be suddenly turned upside down? But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t be mad. When he was here like this... well, he was happy...

He stroked Kili’s hair with his fingers lightly. He said he was in love with him yesterday... or was it just a dream? Something he only wished for? No, he said it... he was brushing his lips over his neck and he said it... Fili caught his own reflection on the tv screen and realized that he was smiling. Dear lord... 

He should really try and concentrate on the case, recall all the facts he knew so far and put them together. If you have all the facts, if you stay away from all the irrelevant things and feelings, sooner or later you should be able to arrive to the right conclusion.

Yeah, he’ll do that, definitely, he will think of the case. He’ll just take five more minutes to look at Kili’s sleeping face and then he will think of the case. Absolutely...

...

An hour later he was still lying there, watching Kili’s naked chest rise and fall slowly, but the whole world was now miraclously clear and precise, full of patterns and fine lines inevitably leading to the truth. The mystery was starting to unravel itself... The feathers under Goblin's washbasin... He said he was on a concert that evening, but that was lie, wasn't it? Or maybe not so much a lie as telling half the truth. He had been to the Erebor Bar to listen to Gordana sing and hopefully get any more feathers from her boa... Beorn said she liked to do that, wrap it around the customers, fat balding men in the first row... Was Goblin's wife right? Was he getting perverted, obsessing over a bar singer and keeping stray feathers she lost? Probably... He came home early that evening because Gordana didn't come to perform... and he didn't recognize her then, when she was lying in his own living room...

He remembered the sergeant thinking that Mr. Goblin was worshipping flamingos and chuckled and Kili woke up with a start, propping himself on his elbow, 'What’s wrong?'

'Nothing’s wrong,' Fili met the boy’s eyes, smiling. 'Everything’s clearer now. Well... not everything, some parts...'

'You’re...' Kili smiled at him but then hesitated suddenly, 'please don’t tell me you’re talking about the case...'

'Oh, but I am,' Fili nodded eagerly, 'it finally makes sense...'

Kili fell back onto the couch, grabbed a pillow and hit the officer with it, amused smile on his lips, 'So we finally get to be together and the whole night, you’re thinking about the case?'

Fili turned red. Not the whole night naturally... He cuddled closer to Kili, turning so that he was lying face to face with him. His Kili... Yesterday, they have... He reached out and ran his fingers through the boy’s stubble, and then, acting on impulse, he leaned closer and kissed him, whispering 'Morning,' against his lips.

Kili grinned at him. 'I hope that means 'Good morning, Kili' and not 'I’m off now, have a good morning.''

Fili cocked his head to a side, a teasing smile on his lips, 'Do you want me to leave?'

'No,' Kili shook his head, his gaze falling on Fili’s lips, 'I want you to stay right where you are. And tell me who did it...' He laid his head on Fili’s chest and the captain ran his hand slowly over his back, caressing it, trying to put the facts in order so that they would make sense to someone else as well.

'Oh, I don’t know who did it for sure, it’s just a theory but the facts fit there all right. It starts with that pen...' he muttered.

'The blue one?'

'Yeah. Dwalin found it in Mr. Goblin’s apartment and we thought it was yours. But since it’s not yours and you said it can‘t be Goblin’s, there is only one person to whom it could belong and that’s Gordana. Assuming of course that the murderer wasn’t stupid enough to bring her there with a pen that could give him away... But Goblin said that when he was coming from the kitchen, he stumbled over a handbag. It fell and the contents scattered... There were all sorts of things inside, make up, cigarettes, pearl necklace, comb... all things that are either too heavy or too light to roll away. But what if the pen was inside the handbag too? It rolled all the way to the door and it didn’t cross anybody’s mind that it perhaps belonged to the victim as well. There was plenty of other things already because of the moving...'

'Okay, so the pen was hers, how does that help?' Kili asked, one hand sliding over Fili’s side, making it hard to concentrate.

'Y-you said yourself that they don’t give these pens out. If she had it, she must have gotten it from someone in Durin Enterprises who knew her well enough to give her an expensive pen... Beorn told me that she had at least two guys. One rich snob and one huge fella. Yeah... he used the word _huge_... I bet you anything that the rich one works for Durin Enterprises... And what if the other one, the huge one, found out about their affair and lost his temper? She came here looking for someone, that much is obvious and the only one who comes to mind is Mr. Gazile. He’s the biggest person in the building if you don’t count Dwalin, and we both know it’s pretty unlikely that Dwalin had something going on with her.'

Kili was staring at him, 'You think Gazile did it?'

'I don’t have any proof...'

'Well he’s strong enough to carry her down to Mr. Goblin’s flat... But why on earth would he do that?'

'Well, first of all, he couldn’t very well leave her in his place and second... I think he did it because he thought you still lived there.'

'Me?' Kili sat up, 'Now you’re freaking me out, why me?'

'Because of that card...'

'What card?'

'There was a card on Gordana’s body where it said, 'I’ve warned you, you’re next... '. I think he hoped that once the story gets into press, it will be known that we found her in your apartment and the murder would be connected with the well-known name Durin and everyone in the company would hear about it. Including Gordana’s unknown lover. He would recognize her picture and know his life was in danger. It says _I’ve warned_ you... that means he had probably sent some threating letters or something to the man before... Well, too bad for Fred, he put her in a wrong apartment and we withheld the information about the card. Too bad for us we don’t know who the lover is and can’t protect him... But still... if he was angry enough to kill Gordana and wanted to kill the man too, why send him a warning like this? Why not go after him straight away... Kili?' he touched the boy‘s hand lightly when he saw that his face had gone completely pale.

'Ohhh, we know who the lover is, all right.' Kili said, 'That would be my father...'

*****

'Aww, aren’t you adorable?' a small chubby lady spotted Fili in the corridor and trotted to him, her grey curls bouncing on her head together with an emerald tiara. She approached him with hungry eyes and wide smile, 'Had any of the others already reserved you for the night?'

'Excuse me?' Fili took a step away from her, this hotel was crammed with really strange people so far.

A confused expression ran over the lady’s face, 'You’re not here for the charity auction? The one where seasoned beauties like me can get a cute bunny like you for the night and help a good thing at the same time?'

'Certainly not, madam, I’m here because of investigation,' he glanced at the closed door behind him in hope that perhaps someone will appear and save him. What kind of events were going on in this hotel?

The lady beamed, 'Ahhh, the theft! Well, I hope you don’t think I was the one who switched those necklaces like half of the people here? Though, if I knew it would embarrass Mabel like that, I might have thought about it!' she giggled and went on before Fili could say anything. 'But to be honest...' she leaned closer to him, continuing in a whisper, 'I think she fits in this place real nice. It‘s just pretending to be a classy place. You’ve seen that Monet at the first landing for example? If that’s a real Monet then I know nothing of art. I think this will be my last season here... Such a pity, there’s so many nice boys around here...' She winked at him.

Just as the lady started getting closer to him again, Gloin appeared at the top of the stairs, making his way to Fili while puffing heavily. The door behind the officer opened suddenly and a tall man in black suit emerged from it and, turning to Fili, said, 'He will see you now, gentlemen.' He disappeared again and both detectives followed him, one very eagerly.

He led them through a vast sitting room full of wonderfully crafted furniture made of dark wood and bits of ivory. The curtains were drawned, giving the whole place a gloomy touch.

As he was walking over the soft carpet, Fili wondered what he will be like... Kili’s father...

While he was telling Kili his theory about a supposed lover from Durin Enterprises, the boy had remembered where he had seen Gordana before. She didn’t look familiar on the photo because he knew her from the bar, she looked familiar because he had seen her before just as she was, with minimal make-up and her real blonde hair. It was a month ago, right at this hotel, during a soirée when his father celebrated his birthday. He had to attend, so he came, smoked a cigarette and left. And he saw her there, standing by his father and only noticed her because she was bigger than him.

Kili agreed to call his father and ask him about any threatening letters he might have received but refused to accompany Fili to the Rivendell Hotel where the head of Durin Enterprises was currently overseeing the preparations for his evening auction.

'Try and be careful, all right?' Kili whispered when they finally got up and were standing at the door of his apartment, 'Bad things tend to happen to people I care about around him...'

'I’ll be fine,' Fili smiled and hesitated. Should he kiss him? Tell him he will see him in the evening? Or... just say plain old 'see you'? Kili was still looking at the ground, just like that night he told him that he hoped they could make it work, that they could be friends. Well, they did make it work on a completely different level, didn’t they?

He cupped Kili’s cheek with one hand and kissed him, brushing his tongue over his as the boy returned the kiss.

'I’ll see you in the evening then?' Kili asked, grinning shyly.

'Yeah, in the evening,' Fili smiled and kissed him lightly one more time, his heart pounding with sudden happiness.

'Way to go, boys,' a voice sounded behind them and they both turned around to see Bofur passing by, that ever-present melancholy smile on his lips. 'I’m glad to see that there are still some among us who listen to reason and advice from more experienced. There may yet be a hope for mankind.' He winked at them and continued down the corridor, whistling.

...

The man in black suit opened the door to a study room and a tall, dark-haired man stood up from his armchair to greet them. He was taller than Kili and definitely taller than Gloin and Fili, more debonair and elegant, too, his dark blue suit fitting him perfectly. Considering his age he looked suprisingly young with his pale skin... definitely a handsome man but nothing like his son. There was life in Kili, and one could feel it from every fiber of his body, but his father was like an emotionless seashell, wonderful but empty.

'Gentlemen,' he motioned for them to sit down and looked straight at Fili.

'I understand you know my boy?' piercing blue eyes bore into the officer’s, a heat rising to Fili's cheeks. Kili’s father certainly looked like a man who had his sources and knew way more than he was letting on. Did he also know what his son spent half of the last night doing to him? Oh, god.

'Yes,' he nodded, swallowing.

The man hesitated for a moment, 'Is... is he well?'

Fili was staring at him, wondering whether this was some tricky question or merely a concern about his younger son, 'Yes, I’d say he is.'

'Good, very good,' he gave him one last searching look and turned to Gloin, 'I believe you are here because of some letters?'

'Letters,' Gloin nodded, glancing at Fili. The officer didn’t really have much time to explain to the chief inspector all the details over the phone and now the poor man had no idea what this was about, but he nodded again, 'Yes, letters it is.'

'I see,' Kili’s father said, not noticing any discomfort on the chief inspector’s side. 'Well, I didn’t really pay them any attention, they were nothing special. Letters come all the time... But I kept them and before I give them to you, may I ask what you need them for?'

Gloin turned his gaze to Fili, who moved a bit on his chair, the tall man in front of him making him nervous for some reason, 'Have you heard that a woman was murdered in Ered Luin two days ago, sir?'

'I’ve heard some rumour...'

'We believe that in connection with this crime, your life can be in danger. The victim’s name was Gordana Flameseeker.' Fili raised his eyes to Kili’s father, whose pale features went a shade whiter.

'Gordana...' he uttered, 'but who would...' He turned his attention to Gloin swiftly, 'I hope you are not implying that Kili has anything to do with it?'

The chief inspector seemed to sink deeper into his armchair under that sharp gaze, 'No...?' They both turned to Fili simultaneously.

'No, sir,' he said. 'We are of the opinion that she was murdered by a man who had been threatening someone close to her in the past. A note was found on her, stating 'I’ve warned you, you’re next.' and therefore it’s only logical to assume that if he killed her out of jealousy, the other man is in danger of meeting the same end.'

The man nodded, 'Well, he won’t get to me. But...' He walked slowly to Fili with a little bundle of letters, 'if he can’t get to me, he may try someone else whom I love. It happened before... So please do your best to work this out quickly and put him in jail.' He passed him the letters, 'This must be him, they are all naming Gordana. But there’s no signature, only some silly nickname...'

They thanked him, raising from their chairs and as doing so Fili glanced out of the window. The whole park was spreading in front of them and right beneath the window a line of black cars was parked.

'Sir, you wouldn’t happen to know whose these cars are, would you?' he turned to Kili’s father who joined him by the window and took a shaky breath. They looked so much alike... but there was nothing gentle about this man. Fili wanted to get out of there, he wanted to go to _Café Ori_ to his Kili, hug him and be grateful that he was nothing like his father...

'Those are hotel cars. They are here for the hotel guests, anyone can borrow them. But sadly very few of the ladies here can drive...'

'Anyone can borrow them...' Fili repeated quietly as he turned to go to the door. 'Well, thank you, sir.'

'It was a mistake to ever go to that bar, as I’ve been informed...' the handsome man next to him muttered, crossing his arms over his chest in smooth motion, still looking out of the window, 'but lately that’s my only chance to see my son... I think he doesn’t even know I go there, and even if he does, he will never come to speak to me...'

*****

'Ohhh, that makes sense, my boy,' Gloin was sitting at Fili‘s desk at the precinct, rocking on his chair. 'But how do these letters help us prove Gazile’s guilt? They’re all signed Azog the Defiler...'

'Never heard of a wrestler named Azog the Defiler?' the officer asked, pacing the room nervously. This wasn’t like him, usually he was calm, but that thing in the hotel...

'Oh my, I’ve very nearly forgotten about that. It’s been what five years? The what’s-his-name lawyer’s murder... They all knew he did it but couldn’t prove him anything...'

'Yeah, he started living in seclusion after that. No more public affairs, no more official fights. Nobody really knows where he is...'

'So? What does he have to do with this?'

'Don’t you see? It’s an anagram. Azog the Defiler is an anagram of Fred Theo Gazile, his whole name.'

'Oh my!' Gloin got so excited that he jumped from the chair. 'But then all is settled! If Beorn confirms that Gazile is the same man he had seen Gordana with, the case is solved. The poor girl probably went there to tell him she’s breaking up with him because she has a much better-looking rich fella, he kills her, during the night takes her to Goblin’s apartment (because like you said he thinks it’s still Kili’s) to give his opponent a real fright before he kills him too (these letters are real vicious, m‘boy). Why, it’s so simple... Ah, Dwalin said I could count on you!' He patted Fili’s shoulder, a sharp pain running through the officer and he gritted his teeth. 'Tell you what, I’m going to the Erebor Bar right now, we can’t lose time. Are you coming with me?'

'No,' Fili muttered, 'I’ve got to finish something else...'

He watched as the chief inspector disappeared down the corridor and then closed his door, banging his head against it three times. Oh, dear god... he had been so stupid. But the car... if anyone finds out about about the car then all goes to hell...

*****

 

It was precisely five o’clock when a taxi stopped in front of Ered Luin and out of it Mr. Bombur and Mr. Bifur scrambled, noticing Fili at the main door, waiting for them.

He checked his watch. He had ten minutes before Gloin and his men arrive, he had to be quick. Beorn confirmed that Gazile was the man he had seen before, a man who seemed to be on intimate terms with Gordana. Which proved that the wrestler was lying to them about knowing her. He was threatening her other lover, he had comitteted a murder before. It was plain and clear. There was something nagging in the back of his mind about it, but Fili didn’t have time for that.

'Ah, our new neighbour!' Bombur greeted him with a smile. 'Would you fancy a cup of tea with us?'

'Sure,' Fili forced a smile, made room for them so they could fit through the door and followed them to their apartment. Everything was exactly the same as the last time he was there. Every little thing... and neither he nor Gloin or Dwalin had noticed that time... Well, Dwalin probably had, and once he puts the pieces together...

'How do you like it here, Fili?' Bombur asked, waddling with the kettle to get water.

'I’d like it much better if there were honest people living here,' the officer retorted and both cooks looked at him, alarmed. Then at the same time they looked at each other and then back at Fili again.

'Whatever could you mean by that? There are only nice people here. Except perhaps... Goblin...' Bombur wondered.

'Yeah, Goblin...' Bifur agreed distastefully.

'Don’t like him all that much ever since he saw you during your little midnight session?'

The kettle fell out of Bombur’s hand, the water spilling all over the floor and Bifur flopped himself on the sofa, staring at Fili wide-eyed.

'That was...'

'That wasn’t...'

'How did you find out?' Bombur breathed out, still standing in a puddle of water, tea forgotten.

Fili turned his head to the statue of Venus and both cooks reflected that movement as if he was about to tell them something about it they didn‘t already know. He wasn't even sure when it crossed his mind for the first time but the thud, the black car in the backstreet... that had nothing to do with the murder. 'Mrs. Jackson heard a muffled thud around midnight and thought it came from this apartment. She was worried that one of you had a heart-attack but I’d say it was Venus who fell accidentaly. And the only reason I can think of why such a heavy statue would fall is that you were moving it. Probably because there’s some sort of storage beneath?'

'Good gracious...' Bombur squeaked, glancing at his cousin and some mutual feeling of defeat must have passed between them, 'It’s... it‘s not so big, that’s why we keep most of the things in the hotel...'

'But you had to move them when you heard that police will be called because of that fake diamond necklace?'

Bombur frowned, 'She would have never found out it was fake if the other hag wasn’t such an expert! I can do real nice copies of jewellery...'

'Paintings too, I presume?'

'No, Bifur does the paintings, he has a real gift! That Monet on the stairs! And Renoir in the library! Masterpieces!... How did you find out?'

Fili glanced at the easel, 'I was informed today that the Monet is fake, in a manner that suggested that it may not be the only thing in the hotel and I thought that someone from the employees had to have something to do with it and then remembered the two of you. You have a pretty professional looking set of colours and brushes for someone who paints a landscape with only four colours... How long have you been doing that? Forging things?'

Bombur scratched his beard, staring at the ceiling as if counting, 'Well, always I guess. There’s so many rich people passing through the hotel with so many wonderful things, we just couldn’t help it. And it doesn’t hurt anybody. We sneak into a room, take photos, make a copy, switch things, sell them. That’s how it works, it‘s simple and no one ever knows. And you may not think so but we are real professionals, though I admit... I might have done a better job on that diamond necklace had I more time...'

'That night when you went back to the hotel for your things... did Kili drive?' Fili looked at the floor, taking a deep breath because he already knew the answer, he had known the moment he saw the row of black sedans at the hotel.

'Yes,' Bombur nodded after a moment, 'but the boy knows nothing! He just thought he was helping us with our rightful things. He helped us move things before, the kitchen equipment... or cakes we make at home for the soirées... He didn’t know what was in those boxes that night. We took the hotel car, the director lets us to borrow it if we need, because we thought that if anyone saw us, at least like that they would not know Kili was involved, because he has a different car...'

'You can arrest us but leave Kili out of it,' Bifur said suddenly, speaking the longest sentence Fili had ever heard him say.

'Yes, he’s a good boy. I think he only agreed to lie to the police about staying at home the whole night because he knew we had nothing to do with the murder. I... I think he might have guessed that we were stealing something though that night... he hasn’t spoken to us since.'

The officer ran his hand over his face. No matter how he looked at it, the boy would always get involved... unless... 'I’m not going to arrest anyone, I just want that diamond necklace.' He needs to get Kili out of this first, and then he can be mad at him for lying later.

Two pairs of eyebrows flew up as the cooks stared at him. 'I would have never guessed that you were the kind of man who could be bribed...' Bombur was looking at him in awe.

'I want that necklace so that I could give it back and stop the investigation.'

'Oh! In that case... the other things...'

Fili checked his watch, three minutes, he didn’t have time for this. 'I don’t care about the other things, nor about the fact that some old ladies, who have nothing better to do than buy guys for money, have their chests stuffed with fake jewellery...'

'Ah!' Bombur smiled widely and jumped up, followed by his cousin, 'In that case, let us...'. Together they moved the Venus statue, revealing a little trap door beneath it. Bifur dropped to his knees and buried his hand in the darkness bellow, extracting from it a velvet sachet, out of which he took a diamond necklace, passing it to Fili.

'That all right, officer?' he asked. Fili was staring at it. Wow, they were pretty huge, these diamonds... Well that will have to do, he realized, because he had no idea what the stolen necklace was supposed to look like.

He took it from the cook’s hand and stuffed it back into the sachet. He glanced at the two men who were both beaming at him. 'And one more thing, don’t you go asking Kili for any more favours ever again.'

*****

Fili was leaning against the wall, a gun in his hand just like in everyone else’s. He didn’t really know why there had to be twenty of them against one man, but then again, Fred Gazile was a wrestler...

'Police! Open the door!' one of Gloin’s men shouted and there was a sound of quick footsteps from inside as if someone was running. The man by the door kicked them out and seventeen armed men rushed in, followed by Gloin, Dwalin and him.

'Stay away from me! I’m armed!' Gazile shrieked, pressed to one corner and waving around himself with his gun. 'What do you want from me?'

'Fred Theo Gazile, I’m arresting you for murder of Gordana Flame-' Gloin started.

'What?! Gordana? I didn’t kill her! Couldn’t find enough evidence against me the last time so now you want to blame Gordana’s murder on me, you swines?!'

'- everything you say can and will-' Gloin went on completely undisturbed by the man’s cries.

'I’m saying I didn’t do it! She came to my door, all pale and mumbling some nonsense and then she dropped dead! If you want to know who did it, go and ask that bastard from Durin Enterprises, I persuaded her to stay with me, she wanted to end it with him, and he killed her rather than see her with an ordinary guy like me!'

'- be used against you-'

'Listen to me dammit! All right, I confess, I did bring her body to that apartment and put the note on her, I thought it was the kid’s apartment, I thought it would go to the press and that bastard would see it and know I was after him. I warned him to stay away from her, I told him not to touch her or hurt her, but he did! He had done away with her because she didn’t want him anymore! It wasn’t me!'

He was still waving his gun, pointing it at each and every one of them in turn in case someone got closer. And Fili’s gaze fell on the trash bin beside him. It had been full of hankies then and he thought the man had cried over a movie... What if he was telling the truth? What if Gordana really did come to him already poisoned, the woman he loved... did he cry over her? And then it hit him... all this time they had thought he killed her in a fit of jealousy but if that was the case he would have shot her or strangled her... A cyanide, that’s a tool of a planned murder...

He turned to Gloin to tell him to stop but the policeman in front of him moved at that same time and tripped over one of the dumbbells on the floor, drawing Gazile’s attention to them. The wrestler looked at Fili with fierce, half-crazy eyes and fired.

And as other shots sounded all around him, Fili could feel a sharp pain, as if something scorching hot was slowly burning its way through his flesh...   


	7. The Red King & The Blue Queen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 7, in which a chess game is played, secrets are revealed and rain falls.....

# Midnight Man

### Chapter 7 - The Red King & The Blue Queen

'You’re gonna have a nice scar, kid,' Dwalin was peeking at Fili‘s shoulder where one of the medics just finished the stitches and grinned. 'Not so classy as mine per se, but it’s a nice beginning.'

'Yeah,' Fili croaked, 'I hope it won’t become a habit...' He relaxed as the tugging of the thread finally stopped and thanked to whoever was smart enough to come up with painkillers.

'I don’t know what you’re complaning about, the bullet barely grazed you, in fact it’s just a scratch...' the detective chuckled.

'Oh? So I didn’t bleed all over your jacket?' Fili smiled at him.

'You’re gonna have to buy me a new one...' Dwalin murmured, looking sadly at the blood-stained fabric in his hand which he used to stop the bullet wound from bleeding before. He turned serious suddenly, the orange light of ambulance flashing over his face, 'I’m glad you’re all right.'

Fili dropped his head, nodding, 'Thanks...' Three ambulances were parked in front of the building even though he was the only one hurt, a dozen police cars accompanying them, blue lights mingling with orange in never ending rhythm. A crowd of curious people gathered, pressed to the yellow tapes around them together with people from the press. Brilliant, so much for a quiet raid...

'I have... a favour to ask,' Fili said, looking up at Dwalin from where he was sitting in an ambulance.

'If you need more blood, you’re gonna have to ask somewhere else.'

Fili smiled, 'No such thing.' He reached inside his pocket and passed him the black velvet satchet.

Dwalin took it, looking back at him with an unreadable expression. 'Is this what I think it is?' he asked, opening it a little and closing it again at once, 'of course it is...' He glanced at Bombur’s and Bifur’s windows. 'You were faster than me, kid.'

Fili looked at him. Of course Dwalin figured it out as well...

'Are you doing it because of Kili?'

Had he enough blood, he would have probably blushed, but now he merely nodded, giving the impression of someone who’s abolutely cool about the whole thing.

'Well,' Dwalin smiled, 'I guess I better return this and come up with a story about how the thief had been apprehended.'

They both turned around as four men carried Gazile’s body from the building at that moment, taking it to one of the ambulances. Gloin was bouncing happily after them, passing straight to the journalists, smiling as the biggest hero.

Dwalin chuckled, patted Fili on his uninjured shoulder and left in the direction of his car. The officer sighed. Damn... that shoulder’s going to hurt even more tomorrow. He laughed, remembering how he thought the exact same thing at the Erebor Bar when he fell, and then stopped when he realized how weird it must seem when he was all alone in the ambulance. And just as he started to wonder whether he could persuade the medics to give him some of those powerful painkiller shots he could take home, he heard a voice he knew, shouting, 'I live here!' and two people pushed their way through the crowd and police.

He watched as Kili and Ori stopped, staring with wide eyes at the police cars and ambulances. He saw Kili scanning the scene, his eyes falling on Gloin among the press, Dwalin standing by his car, phone by his ear, a jacket covered in blood in his hand and then at the body being hoisted into the ambulance. All the colour drained from his face, he staggered and fell to his knees. Ori’s eyes followed the same path, a shock coming to his face as well...

Everything was turning blurry as the painkillers finally kicked in with full force and Fili tried to concentrate real hard. There was Gloin, and Dwalin, a body, but no Fili. Kili and Ori didn’t see him sitting in the ambulance, they must have thought it was his body in that black bag because he was the only one missing... Kili was staring ahead of him, his eyes frightfully blank. Panic seized Fili’s already frantically beating heart, had needed to get to Kili, he needed to tell him he was alive...

He climbed down from the ambulance, feeling a little dizzy but somehow better now that he was moving and someone caught his hand.

'Where are you going?' the medic was back, 'Do you have any idea how much blood you’ve lost?'

Fili shook his hand from his grip without wasting any energy on answer. What the hell did that matter? He needed to get to his Kili... He made his was slowly through his colleagues and cars and as he got within a view of them, Ori’s scared eyes fell on him, the sadness on his face replaced with immense relief and joy within a second. He turned to Kili, talking to him urgently but the boy didn’t seem to hear him, his unfocused eyes fixed on something on the ground.

Fili dropped on his knees next to him, feeling as exhausted as never.

'He’s in shock,' Ori muttered and ran of somewhere.

'Kili,' Fili said, but still the boy sat there, completely motionless. 'Kili,' he repeated, getting closer to him, cupping his cheek with his good hand and forcing him to look at him, 'I’m here, you hear me? I’m all right.'

The boy looked at him and tears burst from his eyes. 'You’re alive somewhere...' he whispered between sobs.

'No, I’m alive here, I’m right here with you!' he shook Kili’s head a little, 'Look, I’m right here!'

Ori was back, wrappping a blanket around the boy’s shoulders. 'He’s alive, Kili. Everything’s going to be all right.' He rubbed his hands over Kili’s, warming him up and Fili looked around. Oh, god, what was he supposed to do? Everybody seemed to be staring at them... But what did they matter? Nobody mattered as much as Kili. He bent down and kissed him, pressing his lips firmly to Kili’s so that he could feel him, all the time stroking his cheek. 'Look at me,' he whispered leaning  his forehead against his, 'I’m all right. It’s Gazile who’s dead, I’m all right.'

Kili took a shaky breath and looked at him, raising his hand to Fili’s as if making sure he really was there. He focused his eyes on Fili and smiled, tears still running down his cheeks, 'I thought...'

'I know,' Fili said and the boy was suddenly in his arms, hugging him like he should never let go of him again.

'But...' Ori’s concerned voice sounded, 'Dwalin’s all right? That blood on his jacket...'

'He’s fine, don’t worry, that was my blood. He went to the hotel.... It was probably you he was trying to call before...' Fili rasped.

Kili withdrew from him in an instant, 'Your blood? But what happened? Where are you hurt?' He scanned him and seemed to notice only then that Fili’s whole shoulder was wrapped in bandages. Ori was pacing around them, muttering something about forgetting his phone in the _Café_ ,

With great effort Fili stood up, glancing as he did so at Kili, 'Get me home, will you?' and upon seeing his concerned expression, added, 'I’m fine, it’s not so bad as it looks. You can ask Dwalin, he called it a scratch...'

Ori looked like he wanted to note that Dwalin would call even a cut off finger a scratch but thought better about it, supporting Fili from the other side and helping Kili to get him home.

*****

In his dream, Fili was the king in a chess game. The game must have been going on for a while now because there were only few pieces left on the chessboard. But he didn’t mind all that much because the board was huge and had he still all his pawns, he wouldn’t be able to protect them all. Only few were standing with him and that was fine, he could take care of them.

'What is your next move, Red King?' his opponent asked. Red king... Fili glanced at his body, his armour crimson as blood... At the other end of the board, on a throne just like his own, a tall man in blue was sitting, gazing at Fili intently with bright impassive eyes. He could see him, a man so beautiful it was almost breathtaking. He was surrounded by his rooks and bishops... they made an impenetrable wall around him. But there was still a chance to win...

Fili’s eyes seeked out the Blue Queen, she was too far away from her king, almost in front of Fili and he could sudenly hear his own bishop speaking to him in his father’s voice, 'Take her and we win. He will be defenceless without her. Remember what I used to tell you? Queen is the most important and dangerous piece...'

But other, more urgent thought came to Fili’s mind. Where was his queen? Where was the one who was supposed to stand by his side? A hand closed around his arm and he could feel someone’s hot breath by his ear, 'Take her. Defeat the Blue King.' It was the most arousing voice he had ever heard. A strong desire for the person behind him filled him. The hand slipped from his arm to his chest and he could feel its touch even through the metal that protected his body, it was stroking him, caressing him. 'Defeat him and I’ll be yours...' The hand made its way down, brushing over his length. 'I’ll make love to you right here...'

'Well?' the Blue King asked, amused smile on his lips as he watched the scene in front of him.

Fili hesitated, his eyes still on the small figure of the Blue Queen. She looked so fragile...

Slender fingers wrapped around him, fondling him and he moaned, turning to the Blue King. 'You will vanquish!' he yelled and raised his lance. Hot wet lips pressed to his, the sweetest taste filling his mouth... the taste of tobacco...

Fili woke with a start, panting heavily, all drenched in sweat. What the hell was that about? He looked around him, absolutely confused as to where he was and his gaze fell on Kili. The boy was sitting cross-legged at the foot of his bed, a magazine in his hands, looking at him with concerned eyes.

'Are you in pain?' he asked, putting the magazine aside and crawling next to him on all four.

Pain? Oh, the shoulder, he had been shot. No, he was not in pain, he was... He swallowed, pulling the blanket closer to himself so that Kili wouldn’t notice. Oh god...

'No, I’m fine,' he said, his voice hoarse. Kili leaned closer to him, scanning his face and then reached for the glass of water on the bedside table, the scent of his shower gel wafting throught the air. He passed Fili the glass and smiled at him.

They had brought him to his apartment yesterday and when Ori left, Kili put the sheets on his bed while the officer was sitting in the kitchen, watching him, realizing that ever since he moved there, he hadn’t spent a single night in his bed... Kili stayed with him till he fell asleep, sitting next to him on the other side of bed, stroking his hand... Fili sighed, he sure as hell hoped he wasn't speaking in his sleep... or moaning for that matter.

'I stayed here with you the whole night, I hope you don’t mind...' Kili said after a moment, toying with the sheets, shaping the fabric in a little flower.

'Of course I don’t mind, I’m glad you stayed,' Fili answered, his voice a little better now that he drank something.

'I mean... I’m sorry that I got all... weird yesterday and you had to kiss me in front of all your colleagues to get me out of it... I was just so scared that you-'

Fili reached for his shirt and pulled him to himself, pressing his lips to the boy’s. And Kili slipped one hand around him, steadying himself and kissed him back. It was a fierce kiss, desperate, assuring both of them that the other was really there.

Fili broke it first, trying to catch a breath, smiling, 'So should I apologize that I kissed you in front of the press and all your friends might know by now?'

Kili giggled, that wonderful smile of his back on his lips. He was so adorable when he smiled... If all it took to make him look like that was to kiss him, then he would gladly spend the rest of his life kissing him. Yeah, he really would...

'Doctor Oin was here while you were sleeping.'

'Oin?'

'Yeah, when I opened the door he scanned me from tip to toe and said, 'Ah, so you’re the fella.' then went inside and checked on you. All the time he was here he was talking to me like I was your wife or something. I’m supposed to give you lots to drink, but no alcohol because of the painkillers he left for you, and cook something nourishing everytime you feel hungry. And you’re not supposed to strain yourself and you should listen to everything I say because I look like a responsible and smart lad and therefore he was comfortable to leave you in my loving care. His words...' Kili blushed at that last sentence.

Fili giggled as well, 'All right, I’m hungry. Be a dear and prepare something _nourishing_.'

Kili grinned widely, 'I’ll make something. You need help getting in the shower?'

The officer hesitated, he couldn’t very well let him help him when he was like this... Damn that dream! 'No, I’ll... no.'

Kili nodded, turning to slide from bed but then stopped and leaned back to Fili again. He was gazing into his eyes intently, one hand brushing ruffled hair from his forehead lightly. He looked like he wanted to say something but wasn’t sure how to phrase it... or whether he should say it at all. He slid his hand to his cheek.

'There’s something I’ve got to tell you... about that night when Goradana was murdered...'

'I know,' Fili muttered. He had completely forgotten about it, the moment he gave the necklace to Dwalin, the affair ceased to exist for him.

The boy was looking at him wide-eyed, 'You’re not mad?'

Fili thought about it for a moment and realized that he wasn’t. How come he wasn’t? The boy had lied to him... He was sitting on one of his boxes and said he went to bed at eleven. But then another picture came from him memory, of Kili kneeling on the grass with blank eyes. He fell there because he was worried about him, beacuse he thought he was dead... beacuse he loved him... He wasn’t lying about that and that was all that mattered. 'No, I’m not mad. Just... should Bombur or Bifur ask you to help them with something ever again, say no. Though... I don’t think they will...'

Kili grinned, biting his lips, his whole face suddenly glowing with happiness. He leaned down and pressed a small peck on Fili‘s lips, 'I knew you’re in love with me too.' He giggled upon seeing Fili’s expression and jumped from the bed, 'I’ll get that breakfast then!'

Oh, god...

...

Fili was sitting on his coach where he had spent so many nights before, watching a document about endangered species, namely a freshwater pearl mussel. ' _The freshwater pearl mussel begins life as a tiny larva_...' Oh dear lord, was that true? He wanted to tell Kili but the boy had fallen asleep. He had forced him to eat double breakfast and then pushed a cup of tea in his hand, settling next to him on the couch and he fell asleep within five minutes, his head falling on Fili’s shoulder. Was he awake the whole night? Staying up to see whether he was all right?

Fili kissed the black curls and carefully moved the boy so that his head was now lying on the pillow in the officer’s lap, blanket laid over him as far as Fili could reach.

He never knew about the mussels. But then he never thought about where the little mussels come from or what they even look like. He always assumed that they just... appeared. Well, that was stupid, wasn’t it? What do the farms look like anyway? Those where they breed them for pearls? Do they have someone there scanning the water for tiny mussel larvas and then carefully transferring them to separate tanks? Oh, man, he wouldn’t want to do that... Though, they’re probably well paid, these larva-collectors, given how expensive the pearls are and how many are sold-

A thought occured to him all of a sudden. Gordana was covered with pearls. She had earrings and bracelets. She even had a necklace but kept it in the handbag, why? Was it maybe broken, was there something wrong with the fastening? He didn’t know, he didn’t really look at it all that well... Oh, wait, it was. The fastening was definitely broken, as if she got caught somewhere while moving too quickly and the fastening just broke under the pressure. Though... it’s easy to get caught with a bracelet, on a door handle for example, but a necklace?

Or was there something on it, a pendant, that got Gazile so mad that he ripped it off her, putting the necklace in her handbag later because it was broken and he couldn‘t put it back on her? But what?

If it got him mad it had to have something to do with Kili’s father. What could he possibly give her for a pendant? What kind of jewellery did the man like?

A vision of the Blue King from his dream came back to Fili. The head of Durin Enterprises had dark blue suit when they met him in the Rivendell Hotel, the company pens were the purest shade of dark blue, their logo was almost all blue as well. Well, the man liked blue all right. What blue gemstones were there? Sapphires... Fili chuckled, Kili’s father would go nicely with Gal because she seemed to love them too, her jewellery chest was full of them. They would probably be the best looking pair in town...

Perhaps they knew each other, she was rich as well, they could have met on some party or something. Maybe even spent a night with each other in the past, she was a widow after all, nothing wrong about that from her side...

Or what if it wasn’t just one night...

A chill ran through him suddenly. If Gazile was telling the truth, if Gordana really came to his door already poisoned... there was only one place she could have come from. When you’re poisoned with cyanide, you don’t have enough strength to climb the stairs...

Visions came flashing in front of his eyes. Kili seeing Gal on the balcony that day... Gal seeing Gordana entering the building... Why was she on that balcony? Was she waiting for the singer to come? So that she could prepare for something? But what? Pouring cyanide in her tea? That was absurd... and yet... But why? Why?

Her voice came back, deep and rich. ' _I am almost certain, that this a crime of passion, inspector... Some kinds of love hurt..._ ' Was she trying to tell them then? That she did it?

Fili’s heart was pounding. Everything about this was wrong. Gal was sweet and lovely, why would she do such a thing? She had no motive...

*****

'It’s open.'

Fili opened the door on the third floor and entered cautiously, even though he knew Gal wouldn’t hurt him. She was sitting on the sofa where he, Dwalin and Gloin were sitting that night, dressed in loose white sweater and beige linen trousers. Her golden hair seemed to shine even though no sun was pouring in. She looked immensely peacefully.

'I knew you’d come,' she smiled at him.

'You did?' Fili asked, staying close by the door in case she decided to hurt him after all. But she didn’t move from her sofa, she didn’t move at all.

'I would have confessed right there and then, but she disappeared and then suddenly turned up in Mr. Goblin’s apartment... I wanted to know how did that happened, I wanted to make sure that no one innocent would get involved in her murder... '

'Is that why you lied about not seeing Kili that night? Why you came up with a story about a man running out of the backstreet?'

'Yes... I was up the whole night, I saw a lot of things...' she pierced him with her look, her eyes twinling, 'I saw Kili helping Mr. Bifur and Mr. Bombur with their boxes, I saw that you cared about him already when you asked me whether I was sure it wasn't him I’ve seen... And I knew you’d never give a chance to try and get to know him better if you even for a moment thought that he had something to do with the crime...'

'But why did you do it?' Fili asked, incredulous. He still couldn’t believe it... She seemed so kind...

Gal tilted her head a little, looking at him with sad eyes, 'For the same reason you let two forgers go free for only one diamond necklace. I love a Durin...'

Fili opened his mouth to say something but there was no need. The way he felt about Kili... He knew Gal was right and she knew it just as well as him...

The rentier smiled at him, 'Do take good care of him, will you? Kili’s heart is just as soft as his father’s...' She laughed when she saw his expression, a wonderful tinkling sound filling the room, 'You don’t believe that? Well,' she paused in thought, 'maybe not anymore... but when we met, all those years ago, he was like Kili. There was so much life and happiness in him... He was married but then so was I. It didn’t matter, I could have spent my whole life being just his mistress.

He had other women too, of course, but those were just affairs, they didn’t mean a thing. No one ever mattered more than I... till she came. I’ve heard there was something about her that attracted everyone and I wanted to meet her, I‘ve met all of his lovers and knew they could never compete against me when it came to his love, and I assumed that she was just another distraction.

I’ve got my ways of finding out things about people, captain. Things they’re trying to hide... And I saw her for what she really was. She was rotten right to her pretty bones, she liked to play games with men. I knew she had someone else, someone dangerous and I was worried that sooner or later he will persuade her to do something terrible to the man I love in order to get to his money... When I realized it was Gazile, it was too late...

But I wanted to warn her to stay away from him, I was even prepared to offer her money. So I invited her for tea and she came, of course she came, she was silly enough. She had absolutely no charm or manners at all, she was just a rude bar singer. She refused to give him up, said I had no proof that her and her boyfriend were planning something... But that I had and I told her...

The day was so warm, she unfastened her blouse a little and I saw it... A single sapphire pendant on a pearl necklace. He never gave sapphires to anyone but me. I couldn’t believe it... he cared about her, after all... I have loved Kili’s father for as long as I can remember and he always loved me back, I couldn't let her destroy that... after all those years... There is nothing worse then when the one you love, the one you devoted your whole life to, stops loving you... All my love turned to hatred then, to hatred for both of them, but I could never hurt him...

All my life I took pride from being able to control my emotions and I am terribly ashamed of how I acted right then but I got so angry, I might have lost my mind at that moment... When I got up for the tea, I poured the cyanide in her cup and she drank it all before even realizing something was wrong. She pushed me then, asking me what had I done and I tore that necklace off her neck and took the sapphire down. She grabbed the pearls from me and ran to the door, slamming it behind herself. But the latch must have broken with the impact and I couldn’t open it for solid five minutes, and by then... she was gone and there was no sign of her... I had to find out what happened with her... And when during the night Mr. Goblin shouted 'Murder' I ran there straight away, but I just coudn’t understand how it happened, how she came to be there, she didn’t have enough strength to walk there all by herself... So I waited till you found out the truth, the whole truth... And all this time, I was never sorry for killing her, not even once... She deserved it well enough...'

'Gazile too?'

Gal’s brilliant eyes sparkled, 'Do you doubt that? He tried to kill you. He had killed a man five years ago. Given time, he would have found a way to kill Kili’s father as well...'

Fili took a deep breath, 'You do realize that I will have to arrest you now?'

The beautiful woman in front of him looked at him with eyes so sad, that it almost broke his heart, 'I understand. But when the police gets here, they won’t find me alive...'

'What do you mean?' Fili took a step closer to her, a frightful feeling creeping over him.

Long, slender fingers passed two things closer to him over the table, an envelope and a brooch she wore when he first met her. 'Here’s my confession and evidence that the two of them were planning a murder of Kili's father... and here’s the poison. Even though I am not sorry for it, I have done a terrible, despicable thing. And I will pay for it my way...'

She leaned back on the sofa, the movement before obviously tiring her more than it should, and she beamed at him one more time, 'I am so happy Kili found you...'

*****

Fili was sitting at his kitchen table, watching Kili opposite him. Gloin had left half an hour ago, right after Gal’s body had been taken away, his sullen expression disappearing after he heard the whole story and read the rentier’s letter, and by the time he faced the press again, he was back to his cheerful self. Nobody could have expected something like this...

'I think we should move,' Kili said, sipping his beer.

Fili smiled. They had known each other for few days and already, when it came to moving, they were 'we'. 'I think all the worst ones are gone. Perhaps someone nice will move in this time...'

'Yeah, you’re right. I was pretty happy the last time someone moved in,' Kili grinned at him. 'Well, Mrs. Jackson says she already has someone for Gal’s apartment. She’s not one to mourn for tenants for too long, is she? Anyway, said this guy had wanted the apartment for years, some professor... what was the name... Gandalf.'

'Sounds pretty trustworthy to me... So are we giving it a shot and staying?' Fili asked, glancing at Kili to see how he will react on the word 'we'. They boy looked up at him, his cheeks flushed.

'Yeah,' he nodded, smiling shyly. 'How did you even figure it out about Gal?'

Fili chuckled, 'I was watching a document about baby mussels...'

'Baby mussels?' Kili asked, frowning as if wondering whether Fili was just making fun of him but then another thought obviously came to his mind, 'How do the mussels even do it in the first place?'

The officer was staring at him. Yeah... how on earth do the mussels do it? They both burst out laughing at the same time and Kili sipped his beer again. 'You know, it’s a shame you can’t drink alcohol yet.'

Fili looked at him from his tea, 'Why?'

Kili’s brown eyes were gazing back at him intently. 'Because when you’re drunk you’re letting me do all sorts of stuff to you...'

*****

Fili was standing by the open bedroom window, looking at the cloudy sky, the gust of wind blowing raindrops to him from time to time. But he didn’t feel them, nor the cold... all he could feel was the heat that his pounding heart was spreading through his body...

He could hear the sound of water coming from the shower and let himself think about the fact that Kili was there, in his own shower, naked... He hasn’t seen him naked yet... that night, the boy kept his underwear... But he wanted to see him... His hands started shivering as soon as he thought about touching Kili's-... But he wanted to do it. Dear god, he wanted to do it so much...

He heard Bofur somewhere above him playing his sax. Why did the sound of saxophone in the rain felt so damn good? This wasn’t helping... Not even the painkillers were working against this desire...

Two strong, still damp arms wrapped around him, and hot breath brushed his ear, 'You’ll catch cold...'

It happened before, in his dreams, the boy embraced him just like this, telling him he will be his... He ran his fingers over Kili’s, intertwining them together.

'Will you make love to me?' he whispered, still gazing at the heavy rain filled with sad melodies...

He could feel the boy‘s frantic heartbeat as he exhaled sharply against the skin on his neck. 'You sure?'

Fili nodded, 'But I... I don’t know how to... I mean, I know how, I’ve just never...'

Kili came to stand in front of him, kissing him gently, running his hands slowly to his undershirt, 'I’ll show you...' He pulled it over his head, nuzzling the skin beneath his ear. Fili moaned, it was too hot in the room, too hot... He raised his hands to Kili’s chest, running his fingers through the soft hair all the way down to where the towel was the boy’s only piece of clothing. It was embarrassing how much his hands were shivering when he was untangling it, letting it fall to the ground. He was breathing heavily now, he couldn’t help it, he couldn’t stop it... He let his gaze fall to Kili’s length and he had to grip the boy’s arms, leaning his forehead against his chest, to steady himself. Oh, dear god, he was really doing to do this with a man... He didn’t know how to touch the boy, they were both men, but still... he wasn’t used to this...

He raised his eyes to Kili‘s, his heart pounding so much that he was worried that any minute now it might stop alltogether.

'It’s fine,' the boy whispered and kissed him, 'You can touch me wherever you want...' Fili leaned his forehead against his chest again, taking one deep breath. If he does this, he won’t be able to look into Kili’s eyes ever again... but... but...

He reached down, brushing his fingers over Kili’s hardness and a moan escaped the boy’s lips where he was kissing him on the neck. It was strangely exhilarating so he did it again, gaining more confidence with each stroke, Kili getting harder with every second under his touch.

Fili couldn’t take his eyes from where his hand was caressing the boy, it was so new, so wonderful.

Kili moaned even louder, pressing his lips fiercely to Fili’s, brushing his tongue over the officer’s and pulling him closer. Their hips met and Fili could feel it, he was just as hard as Kili...

The boy closed the distance between them and bed, taking Fili with him. Their lips still locked in a kiss, they climbed on it, Kili positioning himself behind Fili, pressing his chest to the officer’s back. Fili was breathing deeply, sure that he won’t be able to breathe properly from now on and as the boy’s hands wrapped around his hardness, he exhaled in surprise. He couldn’t escape anywhere like this, Kili was all around him, his hands arousing in him feelings he never even knew existed. He tilted his head back, laying it on the boy’s shoulder and Kili kissed him again, one hand sliding up to caress his chest while the other was still stroking him rhythmically. He moaned in the kiss, if he doesn’t stop, he will come any moment know...

And as if Kili knew, he broke the kiss, pulling the other hand from him as well and sudden feeling of emptiness engulfed Fili. What was he doing? He couldn’t stop... Kili nudged him a little, making him lay on the bed, keeping his knees still apart with his own.

He pressed his lips to Fili’s neck again, whispering, 'Don’t be afraid, you’ll be all right.' He kissed his back then, planting little kisses all the way down his spine to his backside. He withdrew for a moment and then Fili felt his warm wet tongue caressing his entrance... He yelped with surprise, burying his head in the sheets, grinding the fabric between his teeth. Was his body still listening to him, he might have ran out of the bed, ashamed as never before in his life, never to return again. This felt wrong... he asked Kili to do this, but it never crossed his mind that it included forcing the boy to do this to him... it was... his knees started to give up beneath him. It felt good, oh god, it felt so good... He couldn’t help but pant and moan against the bed, barely noticing that he was doing it at all...

Kili’s hand was stroking his thigh, calming him down, soothing him... and the other took the tongue’s place, fingers fondling his entrance gently and then one of them slowly pushed its way inside him. A muffled cry of pain escaped Fili‘s lips at the sudden intrusion and he bit the sheets even harder, breathing unevenly. And then, somewhere at the back of his mind, he could hear Kili’s voice. He told him not to be afraid. He wouldn’t hurt him... so Fili tried to calm down, relaxing his muscles and he could hear Kili breathe out with relief as he added one more finger to the first. He waited for him to relax again and then started to move them slowly. And little by little the strange uncomfortable feeling changed into something that felt immensely good... He was lying there, clutching the sheets with both hands and teeth, feeling awfully well...

Kili’s body pressed to his, lips caressing Fili’s ear again, 'Are you ready for me?' Fili froze, remembering the boy’s length beneath his fingers before... that was way more than just two fingers... But if the fingers could feel that good...

'Yeah,' he whispered, nodding, but than grasped Kili’s hand just as the boy was about to withdraw, 'Kili...' He didn’t know what he wanted to say... that he was afraid? He couldn’t say that to him...

The boy bent over him again, pressing a soft kiss to the corner of his lips, 'I’ll be careful...' Fili kissed him back and let go of his hand. He felt the boy’s strong hands slipping to his hips, adjusting him and then he could feel Fili‘s hardness sliding inside him slowly, gradually, the boy always waiting for him to get used to it... It felt weird, and odd, and amazing, and marvellous... He could feel Kili inside him, a thing he had never dreamed he would experience and it was blissful... It was strangely intoxicating, they were one now... An unusual feeling of peace settled over him as he relaxed his whole body, concentrating only on the places where he was in contact with Kili...

And sensing that, the boy started to move slowly, filling Fili with despair and satisfaction at the same time. When he was pulling out of him it felt suddenly wrong, he was supposed to stay there, inside him but he always thrust back... always. Making Fili’s whole body tremble with pleasure. He stopped thinking, feeling only Kili’s incredible body all around him...  

He released the blanket from his teeth because he needed his mouth for panting, moaning, repeating Kili’s name over and over again...

With each thrust a wonderful heat was spreading through his body and he wanted more, he wished for Kili to never stop. He could hear him panting too, his hands stroking his hips, thighs and back. Fili tried to tighten his muscles around him and a loud moan escaped the boy’s lips, his fingers digging into the officer’s flesh and that sound resonated through Fili’s body, setting free some hidden passion inside him. And he knew he was telling Kili to move faster, he was probably even begging him to do so, but he wasn’t really aware of it, he wasn’t ashamed of it... The boy listened to him, moving faster and deeper and it felt so damn good... Fili was getting close with incredible speed...

Kili’s arms wrapped suddenly around his chest and he pulled him up to his knees, pressing him close to his chest. 'Together?' he breathed close to his ear and a mighty shiver ran through Fili as he nodded, unable to speak. One of the boy’s hands slipped to Fili’s hardness, while the other was holding him in place as he started to move inside him again. And it was suddenly way to much for Fili, there were so many things to feel, so many things bringing him to ecstasy at the same time...

'Do you love me?' Kili’s tongue brushed his ear, his wet hair mingling with his own...

'I do,' Fili rasped, his throat dry, 'I love you...' And as he finished saying that, the boy’s lips pressed to his and he could feel him come inside him, hot and radiant. And he came at the same moment, arching his back, his head falling on Kili’s shoulder, waves of pleasure and bliss wrapping him into their powerful, gentle arms... A feeling of absolute happiness washed over him, filling him to his very last cell. And Kili held him firmly, shivering in his own ecstasy. He didn’t let him fall because he was his Midnight man... he told him he would be all right and he was, everything was all right... Everything was wonderful.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, so... phew :) Thank you from the bottom of my heart to all of you for reading the story! You are all wonderful people, especially those who commented because that was an amazing support!^^ Thank you, thank you, thank you! And as always one special thank you of galactic proportions to my dearest [sra_danvers](http://archiveofourown.org/users/sra_danvers/pseuds/sra_danvers).
> 
> Apologies to all Galadriel fans, but... it's just a story ;)
> 
> Should you be curious about what song it is that Bofur plays through the stories, it's [Space Lion](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKnVaDwUg5s)
> 
> And should you wonder where I got the name Gordana Flameseeker from, it's what the Dwarf Name Generator came up with when I typed 'Second Mistress' :)


End file.
